Runaway Stars
by rurouni madness-battousai obsession
Summary: Two young people connected by the threads of time, see an opportunity and runaway only to come face to face with it again when their counties are on the verge of chaos. KK AU
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or it's characters and I probably never will (sighs)**

**A/N: This is my first "published" fan fiction so don't be too harsh please! There is mild OOC but that will be explained at the end, so please give me a chance and enjoy: _Runaway Stars_!**

**_Prologue:_**

"A toast, to the future queen of Azuna!" the king bellowed across the table of nobility.

The men in their best garbs, still excited from the latest dragon hunt, finally hushed down while the women ceased their gossiping. They all turned towards the princess who was sitting to the left of her father. "To the future queen of Azuna!" they cried back.

By that time the princess was as red as a pomegranate seed. She hated it when toasts like this were dedicated to her. Not that she was shy, because she was far the opposite. She was loud, bold, and loved to share her opinion on the current politics. She hated toasts such as this because people would expect her to follow through on the task that the toast held. She above all other means did not want to marry some arrogant pig headed jerk that only saw her as an item. She was given to the prince since birth to insure peace between the prince's country and her own, the fair Icico.

All the princes that she had ever known had just been lazy stuck-up little rich boys who could only talk about the latest baby dragon that they had killed or how much land they owned. None of them ever talked about anything worth while. For example: the good things they were doing for the country or how they were helping the poor get fed every night. She would not accept it. She would not become an egotistical prince's little bride! 'I will not!' her mind screamed 'or my name isn't Kaoru Kamiya!' She was so ticked off that the glass that she was clutching shattered under the pressure.

"Dearest, what's wrong?" Kaoru's mother questioned with a look of concern. Her mother had Kaoru's hair which was an ebony as dark as the cloak of night. However unlike Kaoru, her eyes were a tender emerald. Kaoru had gotten her eyes from her father. From a young age everyone knew that she wasn't going to be a quiet queen. Her eyes were a sapphire color that always had a hurricane of emotions in them.

At the moment the princess was the center of attention as blood trickled down her pale palm. She started to sob, got up, and leaped into her mother's arms.

The king stood up in the room that was barren of sound except for his daughter's weeping. He was a gentle king who had never engaged any country in a war. In fact he studied in a long line of swordsmanship, the Kamiya Kasshin Style. It believed that you only used a sword to protect and not take the life of another human. That was the reason that he wanted his daughter to marry the prince of Azuna, to insure peace between the lands.

He knelt before his daughter and whispered in her ear, "What are you crying about my little princess?"

"I – I don't want to g-get married," she sniffled into her mother's sleeve.

"I'm sorry, but you have to, dear."

"B-but…"

"I have an idea," the queen quietly interjected. "The girl is only fourteen, so maybe we can put the marriage on hold for a few years."

The king sighed, but nodded his head. "I guess that makes sense. Is that okay with you my little princess?"

"I-I guess."

Relieved but still upset at the whole concept of marriage, Kaoru stood up but didn't bother to smooth out her dress. The rest of the meal went by in peace. Meanwhile there were two people who were having a conversation on the same topic at the royal palace in the land of Azuna…

* * *

"What do you mean I have to get married to some bratty little princess I don't even know!" a youth of seventeen with long red hair and flaming amber eyes barked at his father, who was not the least bit impressed with the young prince's attitude. 

"You should be grateful that you're even part of the royal family, Shinta! Your mother felt sorry for you and picked you up off the streets! How dare you act like this! Foolish boy! You are going to be king of Azuna and hopefully Icico too! I even changed your name from a girly one like Shinta to a more respectable one like Kenshin!"

"I never asked you to change my name or take me from the streets! It's not my fault that my birth mother abandoned me as a child!"

"I even teach you the secret techniques of the Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryu and this how you repay me!"

"Shut up!"

"No, you shut up and tell me why you don't want to marry the princess?"

"I can't shut up and tell you something at the same time," Kenshin mocked.

"That's enough! Just tell me why!"

"Fine," the prince replied in a defiant voice, "All of the princesses that I've ever met have all been vain and conceited! They'll never do anything of use to the country, because all they do is sit on the throne and think about themselves. I bet there isn't one girl in the whole world that has royal blood and cares the least about the people in the land or how the underprivileged are getting abused every night!"

"What makes you think that this onewon't hold up to your standards?"

"I just know."

"Now who's acting all high and mighty?"

"Well let's just say that I've never met anyone of nobility to have a heart!"

"Boy, are you still hung over by that Tomoe woman?"

Kenshin was soundless and turned his face away from his adoptive father. He lowered his head and whispered in a cracking voice "I thought she was different."

The two then sat in silence for the duration of the meal.

* * *

Over the years Kaoru grew both emotionally and physically. Her mother had died of an incurable disease when she was fifteen. Her father had taught her the many secrets of the Kamiya Kasshin Style since she was small, for after the queen died she was the only thing that he had left. He knew that when the two kingdoms were to be joined his daughter would be taken care of; he had always been protective of his little girl. But alas he himself was growing weak; he knew that within a few years he himself would be dead. The illness which his wife was taken with had somehow contracted in him. It seemed that there was some kind of curse on the family because of it. He gave Kaoru secret training. For he knew the court would think it disgraceful to find out that their king was teaching his daughter the art of war, which only the boys and men in the kingdom were supposed to know. 

Every night closer to the wedding Kaoru would start to hate the marriage even more. She would stand by the windows watching the fireflies twinkle in the late-summer breeze. One night the princess felt her eyes water up with tears as she thought about someone having complete control over her for rest of her life. She had always had an adventurous spirit since she was born. The idea of calming down and being a wife to some guy she had never met would be a nightmare. In one year she would "belong" to him.

Tae, her dedicated servant, came in the room only to see the girl crouched over, sobbing on the cherry satin pillows on the window seat.

Tae had an accent that came from only the southern end of the kingdom. It always seemed to cheer everyone up on any bad day so she decided to see if her charm worked on a certain young princess.

"Sweetie, whatever is the matter?" the maid sweetly whispered into Kaoru's ear.

"Oh Tae, I-I just…. I know this is really pathetic, but I don't know if I'm ready to settle down and get married. I mean, I haven't even been off the palace grounds and I don't want the big trip of my life being spent travelingto Azuna tojoin the two countries."

"Honey-lamb, I know what you mean, but you have to accept this change whether you like it or not. You can't run away from this."

Suddenly Kaoru's eyes perked up. She sat up, wiped away her tears, and had a huge smile on her face. However it wasn't the smile of someone who was relieved of something in their future; it was the smile of someone planning something.

Tae noticed the mischievous smile but naturally thought that Kaoru was too smart to do anything too dumb. Little did she know that the words that she had the told the princess would change the course of Kaoru's life and the whole future of the country.******

* * *

**

On that same night the prince whom they were talking about was also gazing up at the dark night sky. He was also thinking on the same matter. But he himself despised showing his emotions. If only there were another heir to the throne; then he would be free. 

He sighed, knowing that it was impossible. He brushed his shaggy fire-colored bangs out of his face and glared into space. In the past two years he hadn't come any closer to accepting the matter.

He glanced up to the heavens and saw a star flashing past him. A 'Runaway Star' is what the queen, his adoptive mother, called it. She would cuddle him in her arms when he was little, and would tell him stories of heroes going on quests to find adventure. They would fight dragons, engage in legendary sword fights, save the people of the land, and of course meet a maiden in which the hero would fall in love with. But now his mother was dead and dreams of escaping this life, were only a faint delusion.

He shivered, not from the cold chill that came through the breeze, but of the memory of his mother's funeral. Her once colorful smiling face was pale and had a blank expression in the casket. She had died of a disease that was incurable and known to come at any time.

His thoughts wandered back to the star. Then again, maybe he could run away from it all.

Just blow it all off, without ever coming back. He scoffed at his own thoughts and knew that it would be nearly impossible toget away from this life.

But then again _nearly _impossible, wasn't impossible…

The prince then walked back in the castle with a smirk on his face.

**A/N:** **Okay so that's it for the prologue and I hoped you enjoyed it! If you feel the need to review, please do and I do except constructive criticism! But please, unless I really deserve it, please don't flame me or I might cry. If you don't care about me, care about my family who will have to put up with it (which, might I tell you, isn't easy)!**

**Oh! I almost forgot! I have to explain the slight OOC**

**Kaoru may seem a little wimpy but consider her condition! She's a princess and guaranteed to be a little spoiled. She does start off slightly emotional and, depending one who you are; she may even seem like a little brat. But don't worry the later the story goes the more I'll turn her into the Kaoru we all know and love!**

**Much love!**

**-rm/bo**


	2. Chapter 1

**Hello again! This is the first official chapter of 'RS' and I hope you enjoy it!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin and I probably never will (sighs)**

**Note: For the first few chapters POV will be switching between Kenshin and Kaoru and this chapter is Kaoru's. If you like Kenshin better than Kaoru then just wait till the next chapter. But I advise that you read this one, or you might get confused.**

**Chapter 1: **

The reflection in the mirror was unrecognizable. In the mirror the girl looked quiet and reserved; the kind that would never get her hands dirty. She would go to dances and be in perfect step while listening with great admiration to what her partner was saying, yet never saying anything unless asked to. In this costume she looked like a doll of glass that would shatter on touch.

Her face was lightly accented with blush on her thin cheekbones and the eye shadow gave her a doe-like look. Her lips were as pink as a soft innocent cherry rose blooming in spring. Her hair was pulled into a tight bun, but not tight enough to give her a stern look. Her dress hugged her slender waist tightly, but gave her just enough room to breathe. It was a lavender dress with white lining that ended at the floor and was slightly off the shoulder. Her spotless gloves ended at her elbows and felt like the touch of a baby's hand.

There was a small tiara on her hair that was made out of the most valuable gold in the kingdom and could have been placed there by an angel. Around her neck was a plain silver chain but at the end was a stunning sapphire that resembled her eyes. On her feet were ashen slippers that were crusted with diamonds and held her feet like flowers in the field.

She might have looked like the goddess of peace at the moment but a raging battle was going on inside her. It had been a year since her conversation with Tae and she was starting to wonder if her plan would work. She was also pissed off at the fact that she couldn't run in this dress if the guards were to chase her. She gazed at the dress in the mirror and then almost ripped it off as she undid all of the different buttons and zippers.

One thing was for certain, she would give everything she had to run away into the woods and start a normal life. She was curious, however on what the prince looked like. So she decided to run away the night of the huge dance which would celebrate her and the prince's future marriage. It would be a challenge, but she knew she could do it.

Tae then walked in the room and looked at the princess in pity, who was getting dressed in her traveling garbs. She wanted Kaoru to be the little princess she had taken care of who was dancing in the garden without a care in the world. But now that princess was a seventeen-year-old in the process of an arranged marriage which she didn't want.

"Honey, did the dress work?"

"Tae, you scared the life out of me! And yes it does fit, unfortunately."

"I know this is hard on you, but you're going to have to live through it. Now it would probably be best if you took one last look around the room."

She looked around her room and realized that this would be the final time that she would ever look at this room no matter what was the outcome of her plan. She stood up, smoothed out her traveling dress, and followed Tae out the room but before she closed the door she glanced out the window and saw a horse waiting for her. She then turned around and closed the door, never to return.

She had been on a horse for 5 hours and looking at the guards and the road was never entertaining. No wait not all the guards were entirely boring, like Katsu whose looks were to die for. But even Katsu could get dull from time to time. All of a sudden a young boy jumped out from a nearby tree and had a wooden sword in his hands.

Everyone screeched to a halt and stared at this strange child who was no older hair than twelve-years-old. He was dressed in dirty peasant clothes and his hair was poking up everywhere; it looked like it hadn't ever been brushed. However he looked like he exercised a lot from the appearance of his well kept muscles.

"Stop right there!" the boy called in a deafening tone. "Give me all your money!"

Before any one could say anything Kaoru jumped off the horse and marched over the obviously ignorant boy in front of them.

"Listen kid, I'm the princess of Icicio and I'm already having a bad enough day without you standing here in my way! I'm already pissed that I have to get married in a month and you're not making it any better! So get lost!"

"Who asked you, ugly?" the boy mocked, "And for your information I'm not a kid!"

"Of course you're not a kid; you're a dense baby! Do you realize that I could get you arrested, even killed? Who are you to think that you could talk back to the army of Icico, let alone rob it?"

"Shut up! Like I care about the army! These bastards can't even handle guarding themselves without having their princess marry into the Azuna family!" the kid shouted while he clutched at his sword tighter, "So get out of my way!"

He then, out of the blue, swung the sword at her. Luckily from her because of her father, she was able to dodge it. The kid didn't expect this and she jumped behind him grabbed his arms and twisted them until he hollered in pain.

"Now get lost," she commanded in the voice of a future queen. Then she let him go.

The boy glared at her and started to retreat; but before that he made one last statement in a spiteful voice "You attack your own citizens and you let them starve every night. I doubt that makes any kind of queen."

He ran off into the woods and disappeared in a manner of seconds. Kaoru was so shocked from the last statement that she had stumbled back. She looked like she had been slapped across the face and it seemed like she was going to cry.

During the fight the whole camp of people had remained silent. She trudged back to the horse and slowly climbed back on. She realized that everyone was staring at her "Please go on" she whispered to the leader of the group in the voice of a tiny child instead of a future queen.

They traveled on the next few days in which their biggest problems were on getting the fat cows off the road. Finally they had arrived at the gates of the city where the palace was.

Kaoru looked up at the castle with wonder. It was at least five times bigger then her own. The garden in the north courtyard was full of lilies, roses, buttercups, baby breath, carnations, tulips, daises and her personal favorite, jasmine, which all seemed to have sense of purity about them. She sighed and bent down to get a closer look. She was about to go into her own little world when she remembered that she shouldn't get too attached to this place. Another part of her head said, 'Come on. What's the problem with enjoying them now?'

She bent down to smell them when a gigantic voice bellowed behind her "I wouldn't do that if I were you, my son doesn't let anyone touch his mother's garden. I doubt he would even let his future bride touch it."

She turned around blushing. "I'm so sorry," she replied with shame in her voice.

She looked up and saw one of the biggest men she had ever seen. Her jaw dropped as she looked at his powerfully built chest which she could easily see because the neckline line went half-way down his shirt. His legs were also extremely well-built. Not only that, but his black hair went all the way down his back which made him look powerful and at the same time… well kind of… _pretty,_ in very odd way. His eyes held a lot of arrogance and authority and his face didn't seem to have any pores in it.

'He must be the king. I should have known that it was the late queen's garden. There was no way a home full of men would have kept it without sentimental reason.' Kaoru thought as her face started to get somewhat redder. When she was about the curtsy, the king stopped her.

"No need to bow to me like some common servant, Lady Kamiya!"

Kaoru started to stand up, but she accidentally tripped on her skirt and nearly fell into the king's arms, if things weren't bad enough.

"I know I'm the best looking man in the country and I see you have already fallen for me, but unfortunately you have to marry my idiot apprentice and not me."

She didn't know how to react. Was she supposed to kick him, yell at him, laugh or be confused? She decided being the latter was her best bet.

"Your what?"

"Oh you should know of him by now. He's the prince of this fair land! Although it might not be so fair after he gets a hold of it. Oh well. All I know is that I will always look great and… Anyway it's just a nickname I gave him. He insists that he hates it, but I know he loves it. I mean who wouldn't want to be my apprentice in the Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryu. After all it is the strongest sword technique in the land. But he is rather slow," the king started guffawing again.

For the first time Kaoru started to pity her fiancé. She would pity any one who would have to put up with this jerk.

Before she was able to open her mouth her father put firm hands on her shoulder. He knew that his daughter probably would say something unwise.

"Hiko, how are you doing?"

"Kamiya, it's been years. Still as scrawny as ever I see!"

Kaoru was about to retch. This guy was the rudest person she had ever seen!

"You still have that demented sense of humor I see," her father replied with a genuine smile on his face. Kaoru wanted to yell at her father for just accepting this man.

Hiko laughed and then turned to Kaoru and mockingly said, "You don't like me too much, do you?"

Before she could stop it she retorted "Damn straight."

Hiko just hooted harder. "I see you have a personality that will match my idiot apprentice perfectly; hot-headed and no respect for your elders. But I like you anyway. Don't tell our idiot prince this, but I sort of like him too. By the way the maid Sayo will show you were you room is. I hope you like the room but I'm sure you'll like your wedding bed even better!" Hiko chortled clutching his oh- so-perfect chest as he left the court yard.

'That old pervert! How dare he talk to me like that!'

"I regret ever thinking you were pretty!" she shouted at him.

"I bet you're still thinking it!" he called back as he strutted back into the castle.

The maid, Sayo, approached her hesitantly with a smile on her face. She didn't want to anger this daring young princess. She just sweetly said "Can I show you to your room, my lady?"

"Yes please," Kaoru beamed back, glad that someone here was treating her with respect.

They went down many corridors that were covered with statues of angels and legendary fighting scenes. When they arrived at her room Sayo opened the door.

In the room there was a king size bed with golden covers and windows that looked out over the garden. She almost lost her breath when she noticed how the sun, that was beginning to set, gave the perfect affect in the room. The orange rays that laid across the perfectly polished wooden flooring looked like the most beautiful gown at an elegant party gliding across the dance floor.

She gasped when she saw that there was a miniature fountain in the room with a little stone cherub giggling throwing water at the birds.

Sayo cleared her throat to get her attention and Kaoru was pulled out of her trance.

"Dinner is at 7:00 with the family…"

"Please no!" Kaoru interrupted a little too quickly. She was too nervous to meet the prince and she didn't want to be around Hiko again so she carefully reworded her reply. "I'm sorry; I mean that I am much too tired to eat anything now. I think I will go to bed a little early," Kaoru gave a fake yawn "please tell them to excuse me."

"I don't mean to sound impolite, but it's only 6:00, my lady," Sayo answered looking at the ground.

Kaoru felt a pang of guilt as she looked at the maid who was only doing her job. "Well you know true princesses are very delicate, I'm afraid. So please explain this to them and tell them that I am truly regretful," Kaoru had no idea that she could act this well and was starting to feel more confident about "the plan".

"Yes ma'am," Sayo curtsied and walked out of the room. Sayo had seen how she acted around Hiko and knew that the princess was lying about the whole 'being delicate thing', but what could she say_, 'Sorry, but I think you are a two-faced fraud and you get what ever you want. I know you don't particularly like Hiko, but we all have to put up with him. So please join us for dinner.' _

Kaoru breathed a sigh of relief. She knew that she was hungry, but she also knew she could afford it.

When it had started to grow really dark she decided it would be best to get as much sleep as possible. She knew that the next day would be tiring. That night there would be a ball and she knew that besides meeting the prince, something big would happen. In the last few hours she decided that in the morning she would explore the stronghold so she wouldn't get lost in the castle. She then took off her dress and slipped into her nightgown. She got in bed and blew out the candle.

All that could be seen in that room was the moon, and of course, the stars.

**So that's the end of chapter one and I hoped you enjoyed it! Please send me a review and tell me what you thought of it! It doesn't have to be an extravagant review either it could just be. 'Nice work but you need to work on grammar/spelling' (which I know I do). Put if you can help it, please don't flame me! **

**Much love! **

**-rm/bo**


	3. Chapter 2

**Hey it's a new chapter! Thank you all for you reviews! I love them all so much! **

**This chapter is in Kenshin's POV, so it's a bit different from the previous one. It's also a tad bit shorter... **

**Please enjoy the next installment of Runaway Stars!**

**Chapter 2:**

Morning can either be a time of grasping opportunity or grasping your sheets and pulling them over your head again. The latter was Kenshin's choice. He really didn't want to get up that morning. This was the morning before the big night and he was really starting to feel doubt seeping through him.

'Damn,' he thought. All the while he was still under his covers.

"Your majesty, it's time to get up," Soujiro Seta, his servant, called with his usual bright smile on his face as he opened the curtains and the blinding sunlight came in.

"I don't wanna get up," Kenshin mumbled.

"I'm sorry Mr. Kenshin, but it's 9:00 and it's time to get up," Soujiro responded with his smile not faltering in the slightest.

Kenshin finally pulled himself out of the bed, sulking all the while.

"Cheer up Your Majesty!"

Kenshin just glared back and started pulling on his garbs.

"So am I finally going to see that princess who had the nerve to turn down supper last night?"

"No. I'm afraid Miss Kamiya has already eaten this morning. She wanted to take a walk."

At this Kenshin's eyes went wide and angry. "Did she go into my mother's garden?"

"No, she's just walking around the palace,"

"Oh," Kenshin replied, relieved as he pulled on his shirt.

Soujiro glanced outside. For a split second Kenshin could have sworn he saw a look of total fear on his face. It was quickly replaced with his trademark smile. "Excuse me Your Majesty but I have to go check on something."

He walked out using a stride that was neither masculine nor feminine, but was more of a young child who was naïve of the world. But Kenshin had a feeling that Soujiro knew more about this world then he let on.

Kenshin shrugged it off, pulled his hair in a low pony tail, and walked off into the hallway. Kenshin noticed Soujiro wasn't around and he walked slowly in order to get all of his thoughts together.

Last night he thought he would be able to see her. But she had been too selfish to come out and eat supper with them. It had just confirmed his assumptions of all royal women, so he decided not to fret about it. It was strange though because Hiko had made a remark about how fiery she was and Hiko never paid that kind of a complement to anyone.

As he was strolling down the hallway, he passed his mother's old painting room. His mother was an excellent artist who loved the feel of a brush in her hands.

It was strange because he used to refer the queen as 'mom' but he never called Hiko 'dad'. Maybe he did this because she used to give him approval and love, while Hiko would never give him a word of praise.

Hiko always called him scrawny or stupid. There were only two times that Hiko every showed any bit of caring towards the red-head. The first time was when has mom found him in the streets where his birth mother had left him. Hiko saw him and immediately agreed to taking care of him. Even though Hiko would deny it now he probably renamed Kenshin to allow him to forget the horrible past. The second time was at his mother's funeral and Hiko picked up the then eight-year-old and let Kenshin cry on his shoulder.

After that all Hiko had ever done was train Kenshin. He made him run around the castle five times ever since he was seven. Then he made him do 500 swings and then clean the training area with nothing but a dirty rag and a small bucket of water from top to bottom. When he finally taught Kenshin a technique, it was through doing the technique _on_ Kenshin until he got it. Kenshin only had one technique to learn left and Hiko was no where near teaching him. He had to give Hiko credit though when it came to his skill. Hiko knew what he was talking about and Kenshin was certainly learning from it.

However Kenshin missed his mother with all his heart. She was the only one who ever told him that she loved him. His mother was the only one that he had ever loved either, not counting Tomoe who was another story entirely.

He stood there staring at the room for a few seconds and then walked on. Soon he was in the dining room and the only person sitting at the table was a middle-aged man who was obviously in shape, but there was something that seemed to be draining the energy out of him. The man was eating some fruit that had been picked from the plot in the back that morning. He turned to Kenshin and smiled. Unlike Soujiro's smile, it was without a doubt, authentic.

"Hello, Kenshin, nice day isn't it."

"Nice indeed, King Kamiya," Kenshin responded, tensing up. Kenshin was generally a quiet person unless he was around the people that he knew well, but something about this man made Kenshin deeply respect him. Last night when Sayo had come in and told them how the princess would not be joining them the king immediately got a look of concern and asked if she was alright. Unlike most king's, he actually cared about the welfare of his daughter. Most others would just start piling excuses upon excuses about the behaviors of their daughter without giving a second thought.

The king took the last bite of his fruit and stood up. "Well I think I shall go explore the castle now. See you at the ball!"

Kenshin tensed up even more and waved good-bye to the man. He then sat down and called in the cook to make him some fresh food.

After breakfast Kenshin ran his laps around the castle all the while thinking about what exit he should take so he carefully examined all of them. When he got to the training center Hiko was standing in the center of the room.

"Idiot apprentice, what took you so long!"

"I… uh…"

"You were what? Attacked by goblins, saved a maiden in distress, or was it my favorite, you slept in? Don't tell me you did it again! You could have met your future bride this morning, but of course you didn't. You are supposed to be representing this country, boy! Just for that you owe me 2000 swings and you have to clean the front hall as well as the training center so you better get to moving! Oh, and I want it all done in three hours."

"But that's…!"

"That's what? Don't complain or I'll make it two hours. Do I look like I'm kidding? Don't stand there gaping and go!"

Kenshin didn't hesitate as he started his swings. 'This is really stupid,' he thought. 'I'm twenty-years-old for goodness sake,' doing the same routine for years gave Kenshin the ability to do it quickly and correctly at the same time, so in about thirty minutes, he was finished. After everything was over he met Hiko in the library flirting with some maid. Hiko had always been a flirt, but he knew that inside Hiko had only truly loved the queen. He had had this look of undying love whenever he had looked at her and even though she was a tiny woman she could make Hiko melt in the twinkle of an eye. The only time he had ever seen Hiko cry was at her funeral. It made Kenshin cry even more to see this stone faced man crumbling in front of him.

But now Hiko was flirting with the maid and Kenshin was rolling his eyes. Kenshin cleared his throat and the maid blushed while Hiko acted like nothing had happened.

"Ah, my idiot apprentice is finally done. Now I have to talk to you about something seriously man to man."

By that time the maid had scooted out of the area to clean the dining room.

Hiko motioned for Kenshin to sit beside him in one of the chairs. "Now I know this marriage hasn't been the easiest thing on you. But let me tell you that it will all work out. Personally most of the princesses I've met are quite dull; but for the first time since your mother, I think I have seen a woman with a truly passionate soul who speaks her mind. I think, in fact I know, that you will grow to love her in time. So for the next month I am going to drop practices and let you get to know her."

Kenshin almost stopped breathing for a few seconds as he gazed at is adoptive father. Hiko had never talked to him like this. Kenshin was starting to feel extreme guilt about what was about to happen. But he had to run away. He wasn't going to let one year of careful planning go to waste. He also knew that maybe if he ran away there would be some way for him to help the people of the nation from the inside. Also he didn't want there to be a queen who would spend all of the money on jewels and clothing.

Before Kenshin could reply Hiko gave him a serious look. "Think carefully about what you are going to do."

Hiko left the room and Kenshin knew that Hiko had known all along that he was going to run away and Kenshin sat in the chair for thirty minutes and thought harder then he ever had in his life.

**So that was it! I hope you liked it! I know it's going a bit slow now, but I promise that it will get better. I just have to develop my characters and then it will get lots of action! Please send me a review and tell me what you think. I also want to know when a good time for my updating would be. I'm thinking maybe I could do once a week or so. Please tell me your thoughts on that too! **

**Thank you so much for sticking with me!**

**-rm/bo**


	4. Chapter 3

**Hello again! Thank you for all of the wonderful reviews, I loved them all so much! This chapter is in Kaoru's POV and the story will _finally_ start rolling after it's done. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin and I probably never will (sighs)**

**Please enjoy this new chapter of 'Runaway Stars!' **

**Chapter 3:**

"I've thought about it," Kaoru replied after several moments of consideration. "I want to have a new garden made for everyone in the castle to enjoy. I mean, of course the late queen's garden will still be carefully taken care of, but I think that there should be one made for everyone to take pleasure in."

She smiled at the person who was redesigning the castle as he walked off to tell the workers of her plans. Even if she wasn't going to be there, she wanted to be able to spread a little joy around the palace.

In a few hours she would dress up in her lavender dress and go to the ball in which her plan would go forward. Kaoru didn't know if it was the beautiful day or the security of her plan that made her feel confident, but right then she felt as if she could take over the world.

One thing she was looking forward to even more than carrying out the plan was to see the prince's face who she was supposed to be marrying. It was strange because whenever the prince's name was mentioned, she never seemed to have been paying attention. They rarely called him by it too. It was always 'The Royal Prince'. She thought it started with a 'K' or something, but she wasn't sure. So tonight she would dance with this prince, ask his name, and then she would run away. It was a perfect plan really.

"Miss Kamiya, lunch is ready," Sayo called from across the yard.

Kaoru wanted to laugh, every other worker would be scared to death of just calling out her name and not bowing, but Sayo was different and reminded her of herself. It was too bad that she wouldn't be around long enough to get to know her.

"I'll come, don't worry. Is the prince going to be there?"

"I'm afraid not. His training often goes long into the afternoon."

"Oh," Kaoru replied gloomily. That morning she had gotten up earlier then the majority of the people in the castle. She wanted to explore the castle as much as possible.

At that point she had looked in every room of the fortress, which was not an easy task to accomplish; every room except for one that is. She had walked up to the room and tried to open it, but the door was locked. She was starting to get curious and asked one of the maids why it was looked. The maid replied that she had never seen the door unlocked since her had come to work at the palace. She said that there was some legend about how it was to be opened when the country was in grave danger and only these certain people could open it but that was all she knew.

Kaoru's mind fluttered back to the moments at hand. She had decided that she was going to have one dance with this nameless prince and claim that she was feeling woozy and wanted to get some fresh air and if he followed her she would insist that he get her some water. When he left she would get herself lost in the crowd and go back to the sleeping quarters. Then she would go into Tae's room and change into one of Tae's riding dresses. Then she would go out the back entrance. The back entrance was only known to royalty for if they were late to a party or wanted to take a walk, so there won't be that many guards. For the guards that were there she would take her wooden sword and knock them out. It would take hours for anyone to realize that the princess was gone because of the amount of people at the party.

She sniggered to herself, thinking of how perfect her plan was. She arrived at the dining room only to have the smile taken off her face. There were the two people she hated more than anyone at the moment, Hiko and her dad's financial dealer, Shishio.

"My lady, what a pleasant surprise," Shishio said trying to sound reverent as he stood up and bowed.

Kaoru had disliked him since she was around six when he broke her favorite toy in front of her eyes. He always looked like he was keeping some secret from everyone else too. Kaoru had seen him whispering to a maid a few days ago. When he noticed she was there he stopped talking. Before she could run he walked up to her and looked directly into her eyes. In a sinister voice he told her that princesses shouldn't eavesdrop and he calmly walked away. Not only was he creepy, but he looked horrible too. He had been burned in a fire from head to toe and was always wrapped in bandages. He also had the most sinister eyes she had ever seen. They were these evil brown eyes that always held a mocking look in them. Personally she would rather spend a whole month with Hiko then five minutes with that freak.

"Hello, Mr. Shishio. Beautiful day isn't it," Kaoru gestured to the windows.

Kaoru sat down and picked up a piece of meat and started to gnaw on it; she didn't really care if she impressed these people or not.

"I see she has as much manners as a common mutt," Hiko laughed at her.

She just glared at him and then kept on eating.

"Now I'm sure my idiot apprentice will love her!" Hiko guffawed as he turned to his own plate of food.

Shishio didn't seem to like Hiko also much because he gave a disgusted look at both of them. Kaoru wondered why. Shishio never disliked anyone that made her this miserable before.

"I am going to have a talk with my idiot apprentice today. I'm going to tell him that he should stop training and get to know you better. The last girl he went out with was so polite and courteous that I'm sure that you will be well… a surprise, to say the most!"

Kaoru's face turned red with extreme anger and was about to smack him when she heard Tae call," Sweetie!"

"More like Spicy," Hiko muttered under his breath.

That was all Kaoru could take and she kicked him in the shins under the table. He hollered in pain and Kaoru smirked at her ability to hurt him and catch him by surprise.

Tae came into the room to see Hiko clutching his lower leg, Kaoru grinning triumphantly, and Shishio shaking his head wondering what honor made these people royalty. Tae just decided to dismiss it.

"It's time to get ready for the ball!"

"We have six more hours!"

"But we have to give your hair a good scrub, take care of your nails, put on all the makeup and practice your entrance! Darling, we don't have enough time!"

Kaoru groaned, got out of her chair, and grudgingly followed Tae. She followed her out of the castle and down to the lake near in the castle grounds. There she stripped all of her clothes off and climbed in. It was summer, but the water was freezing. She forced herself to go under the water and came back up again. Tae had left her by then and was talking to one of the maids about getting a clean robe to bring down. Kaoru swam to the other side of the lake and she thought she saw a flash of red in the trees. She shook her head and started to clean out her hair. When it was finally as clean as possible, she swam back to Tae where there was a soft robe waiting for her. She pulled it on and walked back to the palace.

When she arrived to her room everything was laid out. Tae took her robe off of her and started to dry Kaoru's hair with a soft towel. Then she combed through the black hair and let it flow down her back. All the while Kaoru was struggling to put on her underwear; and with all the yanking in her hair, it was proving to be quite difficult. Then one of the maids grabbed the violet dress and started to pull it over her head. There was another maid who was trying to put on her shoes and another one waiting to put the crown and jewels on.

When all the hassle was over, they pushed her in a chair and started to put on all of the makeup. Some of the maids were working on her eyes, while others were working on her cheeks and still others were working on her lips.

After it was all over and Kaoru was able to breathe, for a little while. They then dragged her down to the huge ballroom where the people who organized the ball stood. They then had her walk up and down the stairs and each time they where yelling things like, 'Keep your head up,' or 'Give a smile, but make sure it's not too big.'

In the end Kaoru felt like she wanted to collapse and strangle anyone who dared to give her advice on edict.

All of the sudden a young man with a huge smile entered the room. He was around her age, but his expression seemed to belong to a young boy as opposed to a young man.

"Hello Your Highness. How are you enjoying your stay in the wonderful land of Azuna?" Soujiro said in a conversational tone.

"Wonderfully, Mr. Soujiro. But it is really starting to be a hassle walking down these dreadful stairs all day," Kaoru feigned a dainty look as she told a blatant lie through her teeth. If Soujiro was someone she knew she would be yelling about how she hated this whole damn ball and how these shoes were about as comfortable as rusty nails.

"Well I have to go get in touch with your father's financial advisor, Mr. Shishio. It you would just be so kind as to tell me where he is I would be extremely obliged."

Kaoru gave him a strange look. Why did he want to know were that cold hearted man was? But she replied anyway, "I believe he's in his room at the moment."

"Thank you. I am truly indebted to you, Miss Kamiya," he took her hand and lightly kissed it before he charmingly left the room.

Kaoru didn't know whether to blush or just stare at him. She could never quite figure that boy out. He acted so naively, but he had a sense of living a hundred years.

She then left the ball room and left to go back to her room. In two hours, it would be time for the ball to start.

When the guests had arrived she was supposed to make her entrance. After her entrance, the prince was supposed to make his, but when it was time to practice, people said that the prince was no where to be found.

'If he's anything like his father he was probably flirting with some servant girl in the back room,' Kaoru thought bitterly as she heard Hiko yell that if anyone talked as she made her entrance, they would be sentenced to a night in the prisons.

"Introducing Lady Kaoru Kamiya, the future queen of Azuna!" the announcer shouted after he blew a horn, across the now surprisingly quiet room.

Kaoru stepped out and waved as she glided down the stairs. She could hear whispers about how pretty the new queen looked and she started to walk with more pride. Unfortunately, that wasn't a very smart move and she tripped on her dress and went flying down the stairs. When she had landed at the end she now heard whispers about how the new queen was probably going to ruin the land instead of help it. That made Kaoru's face turn more crimson than it had ever been in her life. It was partly from embarrassment and partly from anger.

She straitened out her skirt and turned her attention to the where she had made her entrance and secretly started to hope that the prince would make some kind of mistake like her. But when she looked at the announcer's face she noticed that it had gone pale.

He glanced around nervously and started to look panicky. Kaoru was noticing that she was not the only one who was becoming aware of the strange situation. The same people who were whispering about her were starting to murmur to each other about how odd this was.

Unexpectedly Soujiro came up to the announcer and said something in an undertone to him. Then the announcer shouted loud enough for everyone in the room to hear:

"What do you mean the prince is gone?"

**See I told you that itwas going to get better! The next chapter is the first one where there isn't really a one person POV chapter. Kenshin and Kaoru will both have there sections of the chapter and there also will be something else... which I'm not telling.**

**I also have to ask a favor of you guys really quickly, I have a goal of 20 reviews before the next chapter and it would be great if I could get there so please consider reviewing (you don't have to of course, but...).**

**Thank you for reading!**

**-rm/bo **


	5. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or any of the characters (sighs) **

**A/N: Thank you for all of the wonderful reviews! The real story is all starting right nowso I hope that you enjoy this next chapter of 'Runaway Stars'! **

**Chapter 4: **

His hair and sweat glimmered in the alluring moonlight as he finally came to a halt. Kenshin had been riding on his horse at a fast paced gallop for the last two hours after he had escaped from the castle. He was filled with adrenaline and his heart was pumping intensely.

"I finally did it!" he said out loud. He was entirely pleased with himself.

He was at least twenty miles from the Azuna fortress and it would take the guards a long time to figure out what had happened to him.

Kenshin had dressed up as a servant in order to get out of the quarters. Unfortunately for him, he was the only man in the castle with long red hair so he had to dress up as a female.

He always knew that he was attractive, but he didn't know that he would have _guys_ hitting on him while he was trying to escape. He was partly pleased and partly insulted. It raised his ego because he was now assured that he looked gorgeous in every circumstance. But the fact that they even thought that he was a pretty girl in the first place could crush a man's self-image. He knew he was a little short and didn't have the bulging muscles his father had, but please! How dare they think that of the prince!

He had rightfully socked those men and ran to the stable where he had gotten his favorite horse, Suoh. Suoh had never let him down before and he trusted him with his life.

Kenshin yanked off the dress and bonnet he was wearing, while riding the horse at top speed. That takes skill! He had been burning up because he had had his rough male training clothes under the dress.

But now life was perfect and he couldn't wait to go to a small village and maybe get a job as a sword instructor. Of course he wouldn't teach the Hiten Mitsurugi style, because that would be too obvious. After all, only royals knew it. Hiko had taught him other various techniques so he could easily pick up on a new one and eventually teach it. But Kenshin wouldn't dare be as harsh on his students as Hiko was on him. That's just cruel and unusual torture!

He looked ahead and saw a river sparkling in the lunar light. He and his steady companion walked over to the water and drank from it leisurely while savoring the breathtaking scenery and allowing the liquid to slowly drip down their parched throats.

* * *

Kaoru looked around the room as chaos started to erupt. People were shouting and cursing while the security tried to calm them down.

"Why can't you find the prince, you incompetent imbeciles!" called a lady from the neighboring land of Marito to the guards.

"Yeah!" agreed the other people in the room.

Drinks were being dropped and shattered. Some of the women looked ill and most of the men were getting even angrier at the situation because they were filled with alcohol.

Kaoru felt like she was about to faint. What in the world was going on? _She_ was supposed to leave this dreadful place, not him! This prince was ruining her perfectly designedplan! She franticly looked around the room to get some kind of clue as to what was happening. She saw the confusion in the room and suddenly struck an idea! This was the perfect time to escape!

She pushed passed the plump Lord Hirimaki and dodged the maids who were trying to revive the passed out Lady Souma. She ran as fast as her evil foot-murdering shoes would allow. She had to think quickly because if the prince was kidnapped then there would be guards lining the castle walls in a number of minutes.

She was almost to the back door when she was suddenly filled with dread. There was Katsu, standing right in front of her.

"If I may ask you, what are you doing, Miss Kaoru?"

"Forgive me for this Katsu," she whispered with her head bowed. She then decked him in the stomach and watched him pass out and fall to the ground. Her eyes looked franticly for a place to put him. She saw Sayo's room and shoved him in there. She was about to leave when she saw the mirror.

'Damn it! I forgot to get changed!' she was still in the elegant dress and when public found out that the princess had run away, she could easily be spotted with this dress. She saw Sayo's closet and pulled out all of the clothes in there until she found the perfect shabby dress. Meanwhile, Katsu was getting Sayo's underclothes tossed on his passed-out face.

Kaoru put on the new dress and took off her fancy dress and shoes. She wanted to keep her tiara and jewelry for memory and if it came to it…Money.

She sprinted to the stable and found a horse in the back that looked nice enough. Luckily she had trained bareback for a few months and so she was completely comfortable. She then galloped into the distance and followed the road away from the castle.

* * *

It had been a few hours since the prince had been discovered missing and everyone was frantic. Some guards had looked for a ransom note, while others were off on horses looking around the main roads. But now they had discovered something else disturbing. The princess was missing too… 

Tae was sobbing and was being comforted by some of the other maids. Kaoru had been like a little sister to her and she only wished that people could find her and get her back unharmed.

Meanwhile, Katsu had woken up in a room he had never been in before. All he knew was that it was a girl's room because he woke up to a really loud shriek.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY ROOM, YOU PERFERT?"

"What? Ow! Ow! Ow!" This insane woman was hitting him on the head with something really hard.

"Do you expect me to believe that you just happened to be lying there in my underwear, lecher!"

"Your what?"

"Don't expect me to believe that they just happened to be on your face, deranged moron!" the girl had shoulder-length brunette wavy hair and was panting and ready to hit him again.

"Listen, I don't even know how I got in here!" he yelled in his defense. Then he noticed that he was covered in women's underclothes and he blushed heavily and tore it away from himself.

"Oh sure!" she replied with a fierce tone.

"The last thing I remember was…" he saw Kaoru's dress on the floor and gasped. "Oh shit." Katsu got a look of extreme horror on his face.

"That doesn't sound too good." Sayo backed off a little.

"The princess… Have you had word on the princess!" Katsu grabbed her shoulders and shook her franticly.

"You mean Lady Kaoru?" she replied flinching at his strong grasp.

"Yes!"

"That's the whole reason I came in here. The prince and princess have been discovered missing. I was going in here to change clothes and search for them."

"Oh no." he let go of her shoulders and she quickly started to massage them.

"What?"

"I know what happened; at least with the princess."

"What does that have to do with coming in here and going through my underclothes?" she growled.

"I was at the front entrance and Kaoru was running toward me and I asked her where she was going. She whispered something I couldn't make out, then she punched me and I think I blacked out. She probably then took me to your room to hide me and to look for clothes." Katsu was pacing and running his fingers through his shoulder-length black hair.

"Why does she want clothes? She has enough clothes," Sayo was getting nervous.

"I think she ran away and wanted to blend in."

Sayo gasped and stayed in shock for an instant. "…but why?" She eventually whispered.

"I don't know!"

"How do you know the princess anyway?" Sayo was getting very curious.

"I'm one of the king's most trusted guards. I was also one of Kaoru's childhood friends." Katsu sighed, put his hands on his face and sat down onto her bed.

In order to break the awkward silence Sayo apologized, "I'm sorry for accusing you of being a pervert."

"It's okay. I'm just not used to waking up to people beating my brains out right when I wake up."

"I said I was sorry!"

"Anyway, I should go out and search for her," Katsu stood up to leave the room.

"If you ask me, I thinkshe's a spoiled brat who doesn't deserve to be found. I mean, when I first met her she completely avoided dinner and wasn't the least bit polite to the king."

"Don't insult her!" he growled back at her. "It's hard being in her position. Try being shipped off like some mindless doll to a man, who for all you know, is ugly and balding! Not only that, but her mother died in the midst of it! Her mother was the only other human being who totally understood her!" Katsu was nowshouting and had an extremely pissed off look in his eyes and was only a few inches away from Sayo.

"I-I didn't know," Sayo muttered and backed off as she looked at the floor and fiddled with her figures as a deep blush seeped over her face.

Katsu sighed, "I think it's my turn to apologize Miss…"

"Sayo."

"Yes, Miss Sayo," Katsu laughed uncomfortably "Please forgive this unruly lashing out and for being such a perverted jerk." He added in a sarcastic tone.

Sayo giggled andchucked a pillow at him.

They both walked out of the room with smiles on their faces as they started to realize a sudden friendship had bloomed.

* * *

After his thirst was quenched, Kenshin got up and was about to get on Suoh, when he heard an earth-shattering scream in the darkness.

**A/N: Ooh! Cliffhanger! **

**So what did you think? Kenshin and Kaoru have both finally runaway and I got to develop Sayo and Katsu's characters. I know Sayo is slightly OOC from what she's like in the series, but I needed someone who was fiery like Kaoru. I always felt sorry for her in the series and since I'm a huge Sano/Megumi fan I never liked Sano/Sayo that much. Then I thought 'Hey! Katsu is Sano's friend so why not get those two together!' **

**I'm sorry that there haven't been any K/K moments yet, but they will come! **

**I'm still going for a goal of twenty reviews, so please leave me one! **

**-rm/bo **


	6. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or any of the characters (sighs) **

**Thanks bunches for the reviews! I'm almost to 20 reviews! This chapter is in Kenshin's POV and he might be _slightly_ out of character, depending on how you look at him. **

**Please enjoy this new installment of Runaway Stars! (bows) **

**Chapter 5: **

Kenshin swerved around and looked about franticly. He ran over to the source of the noise where he saw that there where four men were surrounding a small figure and all of them held knives or dull swords. They laughed maliciously as the child whimpered.

"Leave the kid alone." Kenshin called in a slightly quiet, yet extremely deadly voice.

The man who seemed to be the leader turned around and glared at him. "What are you going to do about it, boy?"

"If you don't step aside, I'm afraid I'm going to have to give you a lesson in eating dirt."

The men all laughed. "So you're some tough guy are you?" the leader asked in a spiteful tone with such sour breath that Kenshin had to try with all of his might to not cover his nose.

"I'll give you one more warning…"

The men laughed some more and went closer to the child.

It was all Kenshin could take and he unsheathed his sword and in the blink of an eye the leader was on the ground and his face was covered in blood. The man was completely knocked out. Kenshin looked throughout the group and questioned "Do any of you want to end up like your," he snorted "_great_ leader?"

Some of the punks looked like they were about the wet themselves and they ran off. The brave ones picked up their boss and ran off.

Kenshin, for the first time, looked closely at the person he had saved. It was a small shy-looking girl with cropped chin-length brown hair and was wearing some type of restaurant uniform.

"Th-h-hank you s-s-sir," the girl muttered while she looked at the ground and tears ran down her face.

Kenshin felt sorry for her and instead of yelling at her on why she was out her in the middle of the night, he decided to ask a gentler question, "What's your name?"

"Tsubame."

"Well Tsubame, why where those men after you?" he asked in a gentle tone as he offered her a rag to wash off the dirt on herself.

"Well, I work at this restaurant a few miles from here and I refused to steal money from the place."

Kenshin frowned. "Why would you have to do that?"

"My family has been slaves to theirs for generations and they told me to steal the money and I told them I wouldn't. The owner trusts me so much and is so kind… I-I couldn't bring myself to do it!" she raised her voice a little.

Kenshin raised one of his eyebrows a little and she blushed.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have spoken out like that," She mumbled.

Kenshin laughed "Its fine, I don't care. In fact, I kind of like it."

She paused a little, but then she quietly spoke up. "Excuse me, I know that this is rude but, why have your eyes changed colors?"

Kenshin was startled. "What do you mean?"

"They were gold at first, and now they're violet."

Kenshin was shocked. The last time that he had purple eyes was before his mom died. He had never gotten why it happened this way though. He decided to ignore it and ask the girl a question, "How about I take you to your restaurant?"

"But sir, it's much too far!"

"But you said that it was close."

"I only said that because… because…" Tsubame cut off.

"It's okay, Miss Tsubame. Where is your restaurant?

"It's twenty miles south of here."

"Twenty miles! How did you get this far?" Kenshin stepped closer to the shy girl.

Tsubame cringed at the tone of his voice. So Kenshin drew back. "Did they force you to come this far?" he replied in a soft voice.

"Yes sir." She whispered as she looked at her feet and tears were slowly coming down her cheeks.

"Did they force you to do anything?" he asked in a deeper, more serious tone.

"Oh no! Nothing like that sir! They just stole some horses to get out here so there would be no witnesses!"

"But they may have done something."

"And for that, I thank you again sir," she bowed her head low to the ground

"Don't call me 'sir' please and please don't bow. I'm just a normal citizen like you." He gently said. She looked up and he wiped the tears off the young girl's face. "So what do you say about my offer?"

"I have no money for an escort."

"You don't need to pay me."

"But I do! You were so kind to me and I think that I should do something to pay back your kind service!"

Kenshin signed. There was no getting around it, so he said, "I've never been around the area where your restaurant is before. How about you just give me a tour for free once we get to your town?"

"But that's not enough to repay you!"

"Oh, but I do love to travel!" he said with a twinkle in his eyes.

After a few hours of convincing, Kenshin set up camp for Tsubame and himself. She insisted that she wanted to be the one to sleep on the ground, but Kenshin firmly urged her that his honor would be crushed if he let a girl sleep on the ground and have himself sleeping on the mat.

It took a while to get her to consent, but when she did finally agree she quickly fell asleep and Kenshin headed for a tree and sat down keeping guard of the place the whole night.

The next morning they both set off on the trip to Tsubame's restaurant. Kenshin had Tsubame ride on his horse while he led it on the ground. After many hours of silence Kenshin decided to break the ice. "What's the name of your restaurant?"

"It's called the Akabeko. I work for a lady there named Sae. She's very nice."

Kenshin sighed. He knew that that was all he was probably going to get out of her for a while. So he was really surprised when she asked, "Could you please tell me your name, sir?"

Kenshin was happy that she was getting more comfortable with him, but he had to speak wisely. "My name is Kenshin."

"Like the princes name."

"Yes. But of course I'm of no relation to him."

"Of course you aren't."

Kenshin gave her a strange look.

Tsubame blushed, "Oh! I didn't mean to be rude! I just mean I doubt any prince would bother to save me."

Kenshin chuckled "I'm sure that any prince would be glad to save you."

Tsubame's face flamed and then looked back at the road. The road they were on was narrow and covered with thick forest on either side of it. Kenshin didn't expect to see another human for at least five days, but out of nowhere a strange man jumped out of the bushes.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING TO MY SISTER?"

Kenshin looked up at a man with spiky brown haired man who seemed to stand a foot taller then Kenshin. He was obviously muscular and Kenshin was a little frightened.

"Miss Tsubame is your sister then?" he gulped.

"Yes she is, you scumbag, now give her back!"

Tsubame quickly spoke up, "Brother please! This is Kenshin! He's the one who saved me from my abductors! And why do you have to act all macho and tough? If you would have been here earlier you would have seen that Sir Kenshin was obviously not my abductor!"

Kenshin was so startled by the small girl's outburst that he had taken a few steps back, but her brother didn't seem to be fazed by it.

"Hey! Hey! I tried the best I could! I just kinda got a little...Well…"

"A little what?"

"Lost! Alright so now you have me! But it is not my fault that these forests are so damn hard to navigate!"

"They're not if you have a map!"

"Men don't need maps!

"Well them obviously you're not a man!"

"You've been around Megumi too much, Tsubame! That fox woman is pure evil I tell you!"

"Sanosuke, just admit that you like her!"

"I do not!" Sanosuke stomped on the ground like a small child.

"Excuse me…" a small voice came from beside the bickering siblings. They looked over to see a timid little red-headed man looking at them, slightly scared to say something. "Mr. Sanosuke, do you know how to ride a horse?"

"Yea."

"Well, maybe you could take the horse with Miss Tsubame to her town. I don't want to be a nuisance. I'm sure Miss Tsubame is safe now with her big brother so…"

"That's stupid! Of course you can come with us!" the man, who looked slightly like a rooster, yelled.

"But I would think that you could get somewhere a lot faster on a horse with only two people then three."

Tsubame spoke up. She was back in her quiet voice. "How will I repay you though ,Sir Kenshin?"

"If you want I'll come to your village and you can give me a tour like you promised; I'll just come a little later."

"Alright, if you feel that way," Sano sighed and jumped onto the horse behind Tsubame and he set off into a gallop.

Kenshin sighed once they where out of sight. Well now his horse was gone. But he did kind of like being threatened by a "commoner". These people were nice and he never had met anyone who had treated him so genuinely. If he was able to settle down in a small village, he would be satisfied and it seemed that he was already making ties.

Kenshin smiled and enjoyed his moment of peace. He walked back on the road smiling, thinking that he was finally going to have a normal life. Little did he know that his life was about to be turned completely upside down as he looked over his left shoulder.

**A/N: Okay... Kenshin didn't meet Kaoru in this chapter... But I do promise he will meet her soon... maybe in the next chapter (Hint, Hint). **

**I know that Tsubame really got OOC, but I just love the thought of her having a big brother to pick on, especially Sano… **

**I also have something else to say! I might be taking a small break on 'RS' to start thinking about what I'm going to do for 'Scream', so I _might_ take a short break... (Runaway Stars is basically planned out, but Scream, is not sadly) I promise though that I will continue eventually! But the more reviews I get, the sooner it's going to be. (Please don't take this as a threat though, I will eventually continue, just not as soon) But if I get enough reviews I will probably update at the same time I always do! By the way... the person who gives me my 20th review will receive, not cookies, but lemonade and muffins. Why lemonade and muffins? Because they rule okay! **

**Hope you enjoyed it! **

**-rm/bo **


	7. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or any of the characters (sighs) **

**Thanks for all the wonderful reviews! I'm so happy that I got over twenty! **

**Now this next chapter is probably what a few of you have been waiting for...**

**Chapter 6:**

The horse was taking her deeper and deeper into the shadowy forest. She was out of breath, sticky with sweat, and tired. She had been riding for a few hours and her back was screaming in pain. She got off the horse when she saw a stream in the distance. Kaoru went off the path and started to drink from it. She had just fulfilled her thirst when she saw a woman in a cloak and a group of grungy-looking guys go past her. Luckily they didn't see her.

"So we got the money," one of the men said, who had a huge scar across his left eye. He held a few have money bags in his hands.

"But I'm too embarrassed now," the girl said in a feigned innocent voice.

"You weren't too embarrassed to do it a few minutes ago," another ugly man growled.

Kaoru crouched behind the bushes. She was attempting to keep her horse quiet and be still too. All the while her face was turning redder and redder. She had heard of these unruly women before. No one ever talked about them in the castle because everyone had too much dignity. But, like watching a gruesome swordfight, she couldn't help but watch.

"Well I guess I…"

Kaoru's face was a pure crimson shade by then and the woman took the cloak off… if you could call this little girl a woman. Her black hair was long, but in agirlish braid, and her chest was extremely flat. She was also wearing clothes that revealed her thighs and it was altogether _totally_ inappropriate. She kind of looked like a weasel.

"What the..?" one of the men cried.

"Yep! My name is Misao Makimachi and I've come for my money, so give it!" The girl now yelled with a bold voice.

"Damn it. It's just a little brat."

The men started to walk off with the money when the girl shrieked:

"I'm not a brat!"

She then proceeded to jump off the rock she was standing on and kicked one of the men in the head which instantly knocked him out. The rest of the malesinstantaneously started to attack her. But it seemed that Misao was a pretty decent fighter because a lot of the men went down in a manner of seconds. What Misao didn't expect was the dagger that the last man had. She had turned her back on him for a second; but when she turned back to face him, she saw the dagger aimed at her stomach. She was taken so much by surprise that she fell backward and landed on the hard ground below her. The man was about to kill her when, out of no where, came a blow to the back of his head and he blacked out.

Misao looked up and saw a girl, who looked around one year older then her, standing above her.

Kaoru smiled and Misao and offered her a hand.

"What exactly were you doing?" she asked as Misao took her hand.

"I was trying to steal some money."

Kaoru felt like she was talking to a small child. "I know; but why?

"Because I've been traveling around here for a few days and I needed the money."

Kaoru groaned. "Couldn't you have gotten a job, or something?"

"I guess I could have. But I don't feel like getting a job while I'm on the road looking for the prophesy."

Kaoru was suddenly interested. She was looking for adventure and it was finally here! "What prophesy?"

"Oh crap! Okina told me not to tell anyone! I can't tell you I'm sorry but Okina said that I can't tell you about the prophesy about the legendary people who are going to save the country."

"But… You just told me..."

"ARRG!" Misao yanked at her own hair, "Why does this always happen to me! Ninjas aren't supposed to blurt out things!"

"…like the fact that they're ninjas," Kaoru pointed out.

"Exactly," It took a few seconds for Misao to realize what she had just said. "Not again!" she screamed.

Kaoru rolled her eyes. This was the strangest girl she had ever encountered.

A few seconds later the girl stopped her ranting and looked up at Kaoru. "You know, you don't look dirty enough to be from around here."

Kaoru froze.

"In fact… You smell really clean… Where do you come from?"

"I-I-I don't want to talk about it," Kaoru stammered.

"Oh! So you're a runaway! This is so exciting! I've never met one before, but for some reason I always thought that I would meet a boy runaway. You know the cute, slightly spoiled, but the kind that has a hint of bad boy in him. I just know that my Lord Aoshi would be so hunky if he ever became a runaway! Oh! I wish that would happen!" She twirled in a circle, "He would come to me, the beautiful queen of the forest, and ask to be saved from its dangers and then we would fall madly in love! Then again he was the one who taught me all of my survival tricks in the first place. So I guess that he would never fall in love with me! Do you think that he would?" She gripped Kaoru's shoulders but quickly let go, "He's too good for me! I could never measure up! He'll probably fall in love with that fox lady, but she's in love with the rooster head, even though she won't admit it and…" She rambled on.

Kaoru was thoroughly confused. Who was this Lord Aoshi? Why would he fall in love with a fox? And don't foxes eat roosters? But she was glad that this girl didn't have a very long attention span because the topic wasn't on her.

"Excuse me," Kaoru interrupted, "but what is this prophesy about? "

"What prophesy?" Misao looked clueless for a few seconds.

"The one you were just talking about a few seconds ago."

"Oh! That one! I really don't see why it's that important anyway. It's supposed to be about two people who are going to save Icico and Azuna from destruction. I really don't know that much about it. I just came looking for it because Okina kept on insisting that I go and find it."

Kaoru didn't have anything else to do, so she asked, "Do you want me to help you find it?"

Misao considered for a few seconds, "Okay!" She replied in her ever chipper voice.

* * *

About 5 hours later, Kaoru decided something: 'This girl had _no _idea what she's doing.' They had walked around the forest trying to figure out how to get out of it and eventually they got lost. But Misao, the ever cheerful girl that she was, didn't fret and insisted that she knew exactly where they were going (even though Kaoru could have sworn they had passed the same rock6 times before). They had been walking for hours and hadn't gotten any sleep and Kaoru was starting to get really cranky. It was really hard to stay in a good mood when you've been dragging a horse and haven't gottenany sleep for a long time. 

"Misao, why did you turn left when I asked you to turn right?" Kaoru pushed her hair out of her face. She always had her hair down, but she really wanted to put it up now. So she pulled out a scrap piece of fabric from her bag and pulled it up.

Misao, not realizing anything was wrong, replied, "Because I _know_ that this is the right direction."

"How?" Kaoru growled. Her stomach was growling too. She hadn't taken any food and she hadn't eaten since her meal with Hiko.

Misao sighed. She slowed down because she noticed that Kaoru was starting to trudge more. "Because that tree is where I ate lunch yesterday!"

"Are you sure you weren't _lost_ yesterday?"

"Yes! I was here a lot of times when I was little. That tree was the boundary line far as we could go from home!" Misao started to skip again.

Kaoru was getting really annoyed and stomped up to Misao. "So where are we going now?"

"Back to the Aoiya!"

"And the Aoiya is…"

"…the restaurant where I live, work, and sleep. It's also a secret headquarters for the Oniwabanshu, the ninja group I work for," Misao was skipping off at a rapid pace and Kaoru had to jog to keep up while she was dragging the horse.

"You mean to tell me that we've been walking around in the woods for nothing!" Kaoru was gasping harshly, they were running by now and that girl was fast! They had already gone half of a mile in a minute!

"I guess you could look at it that way if you wanted. But personally I like to look at the picture as the glass half full!"

Kaoru stopped to catch her breath and then she yelled, "Stop Misao!"

Misao came to a quick stop and turned around to where Kaoru was currently sitting on the ground. "What's wrong?" Misao looked concerned.

"Listen… I don't want to run twenty more miles! I'm tired!"

"But I'm not," Misao replied leaning over her with a huge grin on her face.

Kaoru was too tired to deal with this and snapped back, "But I am! Listen I have no where to go and this damn horse refuses to go any faster!"

Misao smirked, "You don't seem like the kind of girl who could curse."

"I am when I'm really tired and hungry!" she snapped.

The weasel girl gave her a long look and started to think. Finally her face lit up, "I have an idea!"

The princess's face paled, "Not more running!"

"Even better!" Misao said in her ever enthusiastic voice, "I'll give you directions to the place that I work and I'll take the horse! You can work there! Can you cook?"

Kaoru blushed. The only time she had ever attempted to cook was when she was thirteen and nearly burned down the entire east wing of the castle.

"No," she mumbled in a quiet voice while looking down and shuffling her feet.

"That's okay!" Misao responded in her normally bubbly tone of voice. "You can just serve the people!" she said while she jumped from one rock to the next looking around to make sure that no one was listening in on the conversation.

Kaoru was speechless! "Thank you so much!" Kaoru exclaimed bowing slightly.

"It's no problem! The Aoiya could use more help!" Misao had stopped jumping and was now starting to get on the horse.

Kaoru was on top of the world! Her running away was officially a success! All of a sudden she realized a few problems, "Wait, Misao! How exactly do I get to the Aoiya and what about the prophesy?"

"Just follow the trail we're on now," Misao pointed to the ground and Kaoru noticed that they were on a clear cut trail, "and we'll think about the prophesy next week; I'm tired." Misao brushed her hair out of her face as the wind came towards them.

'She's tired! How could she be tired? That little weasel...' Kaoru thought irritably as she watched Misao set off.

Misao started to get the horse to go, but she was going off the trail.

"Misao, what are you doing?" Kaoru asked in surprise.

"I know a quicker way, but that's only because I've done this for years," she kicked the horse and it quickly galloped into the dark forest.

Kaoru sighed. She hoped that Misao was telling the truth. At least she still had her pack on her back. She got it out and took out a mirror. She looked in it by the light of the stars.

The face that stared back at her looked like a plain traveling girl, with dirt in her hair and hands. Dust covered the clothing and her eyes, which were usually surrounded in make-up, were now extremely blood-shot. She looked normal. In some ways it disappointed her and gave her an odd pleasure at the same time.

She quickly put the mirror away. No one would know who she was now.

She walked for another hour when her tired legs gave out. She sat down next to a near-by tree, pulled out her pack, set it down as a pillow and quickly sleep took over.

The next morning she woke up to the blinding sunlight and the birds cheerfully communicating with each other. She stretched and sat up. Her back was severely aching her and her neck hurt whenever she tilted it back. Last night she had had to scrunch up into a ball and put on a small blanket that would camouflage her from travelers that walked her way.

She dusted herself off and picked up her pack. She took off at a slow pace and started to notice that it was almost two hours until noon. Her father had taught her how to know the time based on the placement of the sun.

After walking for an hour, she heard something ahead. It sounded like a horse! But Misao had gone in another direction! Maybe this person could show her a quicker route to the Aoiya!

Even though she ran quickly, the horse got away. What she did see was a man; a man who would forever change her life.

He turned around and their eyes met. He had long red hair and the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen. Her heart skipped a beat and the world stopped.

**A/N: I hope you liked it! This chapter took forever to write and two major events happened. She met Misao, who will play a very major role in the future. And she met our beloved Kenshin! (Finally) Now it's time to get this K/K story started!**

**Please leave a review, this chapter was really hard to write and I'd really appreciate it!**

**Thanks for reading!**

**-rm/bo**


	8. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or any of the characters (sighs) **

**(Squeals) I loved all of the wonderful reviews, thank you! This is the most I've gotten for one chapter ever! I'd love it if you reviewed again (Hint, Hint) (You really don't have to though) **

**Matters regarding last week's chapter: I know Misao was just a bit too bubbly but she will calm down a bit more now! **

**Thank you so much _Anonymous but interested_! I put your suggestion in here and I really appreciate the feedback! **

**Here it is! The chapter everyone's been waiting for! **

Chapter 7:

Kenshin heard footsteps quickly coming towards him and he swerved around. He was expecting it to be one of Hiko's men coming to get him.

Instead he saw a petite woman in traveler's clothes with sweat plastered all over her small face and seeping into her long ebony hair. The woman stopped and gave him a strange look. It was like the look of someone trying to remember someone they hadn't seen in a long time.

Kenshin stared at the girl in front of him. Who was she? He was sure he had never seen the girl before, but something told him that he had maybe seen her in an alternate universe. There was something about her that was pulling on his mind.

'Who is this girl?'

Kaoru frowned. The man in front of her had fiery red hair that she had seen somewhere before, but she couldn't remember where. Also, something about his eyes slowly drew him to her like an age old enchantment.

As the two stood there, the threads of fate were twisting and the prophesy was about to start.

* * *

Sayo stood and looked through the window as she watched the King Hiko pace nervously in the courtyard.

Sixteen hours had passed and there was still no sign of the prince or princess.

She sighed. Katsu had gone with the rest of the armies' to search and she was left to dust the furniture. So many things had happened at the castle in the past few hours.

The prince was nowhere to be found and the same could be said about the princess.

When the King Kamiya was given the news, he collapsed.

The rest of the castle didn't question it because they all knew that he loved his daughter more than anyone else in the world. They all said he must have gone into shock from the loss of his daughter.

But Sayo was suspicious. He was a strong king and he might have been a little ill, but from what she had heard, he had never done anything close to this during the late Queen Kamiya's death.

There was something wrong about how he had collapsed that scared her too. When he had collapsed it looked more like he had eaten something bad instead of going through the grief of his daughter's disappearance.

All of this could have been a coincidence, but the really strange thing was Hiko's behavior. When he heard the news about Kenshin he seemed mildly disturbed, but he seemed to have know more then anyone else. When Kaoru left he was a little more on edge. But when King Kamiya collapsed, he got more jumpy and it appeared like he lost all control of the situation.

Sayo had a feeling that someone was planning this; someone evil. But Sayo couldn't say anything. She knew that if she did she might end up like the king. But maybe she could talk to Katsu about this. She stopped looking out the window and continued doing her work.

* * *

After what seemed like hours of uncomfortable silence, Kaoru finally spoke up.

"Did a horse just go by here?"

Kenshin had been so sure that she was a mute that he was really startled when he heard the girl speak. "What?"

Kaoru was not in the mood to deal with this. She was hungry and tired and that horse could have been a quick and easy trip to the Aoiya. "You know, a horse! That animal people ride to get places! I know the horse must have run past you! Don't lie to me!"

The whole time Kaoru was stepping closer and closer to Kenshin's face. The closer Kaoru stepped the more Kenshin backed up and he eventually ran into a tree.

Kenshin was cornered and he finally answered, "There was a brother and a sister who used the horse to go to the nearest town ten minutes ago. I gave them my horse!" He didn't want her to touch him. This woman really scared him.

The girl's face scrunched up and she glared at him. She looked like she was about to sock him but she just screamed and stomped her left foot.

At this point Kaoru didn't care if she impressed this stranger or not. In her whole life she had never cared about anyone's opinions and she didn't see why she had to start now.

"Damn it to hell! If I could have gotten on that horse and I might have been able to get some food! But no! I had to give my horse to Misao and I had to walk for twenty damn miles to the damn Aoiya! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"

Kenshin's eyes grew wide, 'Is this what all women outside of the castle are like? Is Tsubame going to grow up to be like this? Am I going to survive this outside world?'

Kaoru was thinking and suddenly thought rashly that, if she could outrun the horse, she could catch the people and ride along with them. Kaoru wasn't thinking clearly and was totally being driven by the prospect of food so she left Kenshin and ran down the road as quickly as she could.

Kenshin watched this insane girl run off. He closed his eyes and shook his head and thought that he would never see her again until he heard a sharp yelp of pain.

He quickly opened his eyes and ran to the girl who was now on the ground clutching her ankle to her chest. She seemed to have tripped on a loose root in front of her.

Kenshin kneeled close to the girl and gently whispered, "Let me see it."

"I can take care of myself!" She snapped.

Kenshin didn't listen and took her right leg into his arms.

She flinched as he poked around. She didn't speak for a while and started to notice that this mystery man was kind of cute. But her pride got in the way and she would never admit to it.

His piercing eyes looked up at her and he simply said, "It's not broken."

"Oh, well I guess I can go then," she attempted to get up but he gently pulled her down.

"No, it's still badly sprained."

"Well what do I do then?" Kaoru huffed as she crossed her arms over her chest because she wasn't very patient.

'This girl is impossible!' Kenshin thought as he gazed at the girl with the challenging and fierce look.

"Get on me."

Kaoru's face turned ten shades of red. "What the hell are you suggesting?"

Kenshin realized what she was thinking and his face turned the same color. "No! I don't mean _that_! I mean get on my back and I'll take you to wherever you want!"

Kaoru was on guard, "Why would you do that?"

Kenshin sighed, "Do you really have any other choice?"

She closed her eyes and thought for a while and finally replied, "Fine!"

Kenshin pulled off his pack and kneeled in front of her and she climbed onto his back. He stood up picked up his pack in his hands and started walking.

A few seconds later Kaoru's stomach gave a ferocious growl and Kenshin had to try to hold in a chuckle. 'So this is why she's in such a foul mood.'

"Are you hungry?" He asked as he turned his head over his shoulder to look at her.

"You think?" she snapped.

"You could have asked me for food to begin with. I have food with me."

Kaoru's eyes widened and she frantically asked, "Could I please have some?"

Kenshin raised his eyebrows. Her personality had changed so quickly in a matter of seconds. He lowered her to the ground and let Kaoru get off. He reached into his bag and pulled out a big old piece of bread and he handed it to her.

Kaoru quickly grabbed for it and started to chomp on it. When she finished it she sighed and looked up at Kenshin.

She blushed, "I'm really sorry for the way I treated you before. Will you forgive me?"

Kenshin smiled, "Only if you tell me your name."

"It's Kaoru Kam…" She hesitated. She couldn't tell him her full name. "It's Kaoru. What's yours?"

Kenshin had had the same thoughts, "Its Kenshin."

"Kenshin, nice to meet you," She smiled.

It was the beginning of a wonderful friendship. And it was the beginning of a friendship that might grow into something else.

* * *

"The plan is progressing nicely isn't it, Yumi?" A man covered in bandages asked the woman who was sitting on his lap in a slightly skimpy dress.

"Of course it is, Lord Shishio." She said in a dark sultry voice.

They sat in a dark room in the Azuna castle with only a candle to shed light.

"But really, I must thank the gods of fate for a lot of this success. After all, the plan works so much better since the prince and princess have decided to leave us alone on their own free will. Those foolish children didn't even know that, because they left, their precious countries will be completely controlled by me!"

His sinister laugh filled the dark room and the candle blew out.

* * *

Kenshin and Kaoru where back on the road and were having light conversations on how beautiful the day was and talking about the latest political issues.

Kenshin knew that if the princess he had been proposed to would have been anything like this, he would never have left.

Kaoru was really passionate about her views on how the kingdoms should help the poor. She spoke her mind and she didn't care what other people thought of her. The whole situation was kind of ironic though because the girls name was the same as the princess he had left. He was positive that it was just a coincidence though.

Kaoru was having similar thoughts on Kenshin. He was so genuine and caring. If only the prince she was engaged to was like this. But something bugged her. She could have sworn she had seen his hair before and she knew that she had heard his name before, but she didn't know where.

The whole time Kaoru was also wondering where this perfect man could have come from. She wanted to ask him and didn't want to ask him at the same time because she knew that if she asked, he would ask the same question back. After many moments of contemplation, the curious side won the battle.

"Kenshin, where do you come from?"

Kenshin came to a halt and he stared into space. After many uncomfortable seconds he finally answered, "I'm a runaway."

Kaoru was so surprised! This made her response easier!

"Me too! I really thought that I was the only one! Why did you runaway?"

"It was a prearranged marriage that I didn't want."

"Me too! Wow! Who would have thought? The gods of fate must be having fun!" Kaoru was so happy she didn't notice the sun setting in the distance.

"Miss Kaoru, I think that we should stop for the night."

Kaoru saw the sunset and got off of Kenshin's back when they reached a clearing.

Kaoru sat down on the ground as Kenshin got a fire ready. She looked through her pack and realized something. She had forgotten her blanket in the morning!

"Damn it!"

Kenshin glanced at the frustrated girl who was hopelessly dumping out her pack and double checking.

"What's wrong?"

"I forgot my blanket in the last place I slept and there is no way that I'm going back!"

"You can use mine," the prince simply replied.

"No! There is no way I'm going to do that! Anyway you must be aching because I've been on your back all day!"

"But I can't let a lady…"

"I'm no lady!" She crossed her arms over her chest stubbornly.

"But I couldn't live with myself!"

"Well I wouldn't be able to live with _myself_!"

Their stubbornness was equally matched and neither one of them was going to back down.

"Let's compromise. We'll share the blanket!" Kaoru finally said after several moments of thinking.

"No way! That's completely immodest!"

"Too bad! That's the final offer!"

In the end Kenshin gave up and went decided to take the up her offer. He wasn't going to let a girl sleep in the cold without a blanket. He was going to get out of it once she was asleep anyway, so it would be okay.

They both settled under the small blanket and rested their heads against their bags. Kenshin waited for her to fall asleep for a long time because the ground wasn't the slightest bit comfortable and she kept squirming.

But the comfortable place she finally reached and fell asleep on was Kenshin's chest! He knew that he should probably move but he looked at her peaceful face and couldn't bear to do it. He stayed up a while longer but when fell asleep his arms were protectively holding the girl and they both slept serenely under the stars.

**A/N: So... Was that enough K/K moments for you? It was so fun to write! **

**Question for everyone! Should I focus more on K/K relationship or the plot next week? I could do either, but I need to put some now evil pyromaniac plot in here soon! **

**Thank you for reading and please review! I put a lot of work in this to get this out for you and I'd really appreciate it! **

**-rm/bo **


	9. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or any of its characters.**

**Thank you so much for the reviews everyone! I really really loved them! A lot of you have been asking about when they will find out about each other's identities and I have to tell you that they won't find out for a while (sorry)!**

Chapter 8:

Her eyes opened and sunlight came pouring in through the shade of the trees. She rubbed her eyes and tried to sit up, but she was quickly stopped because a certain pair of strong arms was around her middle. She tried to shriek in fear and kick the man but when she turned around she saw that it was Kenshin. Her face turned crimson and she went stiff. What would people think if they knew that the crown princess was in the arms of a man she barely knew?

The prince started to stir and his groggy eyes slowly opened. He blinked a few times to get adjusted to the light but when he could see clearly he was shocked to see a certain young woman cradled in his arms. This certain young woman was wide awake too.

Kenshin quickly took his arms off of her waist and scooted back. His face started to turn a color of red that even rivaled his hair.

After what seemed like an eternity Kenshin finally managed to stutter a quick, "I'm sorry."

* * *

Katsu rode swiftly through the forest. He had ridden all night. His legs were tired and his eyelids were starting to droop. His head was pounding and his back was aching. But he had to continue! He wouldn't let one of his best friends get hurt! 

_Flashback:_

A twelve-year-old Kaoru ran out of the Icico castle with a huge grin on her innocent face and a fourteen-year-old Katsu rolled his eyes as he settled the horses in the stable.

"Why did you run out of the palace again?" Katsu groaned as she ran up to him and hugged him.

"Because I wanted to see you and I wanted to be free from that smelly castle!" She wrinkled her petite nose and let go of Katsu.

"Do you know that they only keep you in there like that for safety?"

Kaoru put her hands on her hips, "I know that! But I can take care of myself!"

"So you can stand up against the strongest dark knights of all the lands?" The boy asked skeptically.

"Of course," Kaoru replied with a cocky air.

Katsu sighed. He knew that it was impossible to reason with the girl. He watched her walk up to one of the horses and gingerly stroke the animal.

Kaoru had an air of innocence and he swore to himself that he would stop at nothing to keep that innocence in tact. He would protect his friend if it would cost him his life!

* * *

"You pervert!" That same princess screeched a few miles away when she was finally able to gain control of her voice. 

"I'm so… so… sorry! I didn't mean to do anything wrong it's just… just…" Kenshin's blush turned deeper and his face was turned towards the ground.

Kaoru realized that she was being a bit harsh and she replied in a much gentler voice than before, "It's alright. It was probably partly my fault too. You see, last night I couldn't fall asleep and the only thing that was well…" she trailed off and she seemed to have sudden interest in her left shoe.

Kenshin chuckled nervously but he finally said, "How about we just forget this whole incident? Friends?" He stood up and he offered her a hand.

She accepted it and gently replied, "Friends."

It would have been a perfect moment but Kaoru tripped because of the sprain (which she had momentarily forgotten) and she fell head first towards Kenshin's chest.

Kaoru's face turned more scarlet and she tried to push herself away but Kenshin grabbed her hands.

"You're still injured. I'll carry you again today." Kenshin insisted.

Kaoru knew that she could try to insist on not doing it, but she also wasn't in the mood for an argument and she nodded.

He kneeled down again and she slowly climbed onto his back.

For thirty minutes they both went without talking, admiring the beautiful scenery, but Kenshin finally broke the silence. "Did you ever tell me where you are going?"

"Oh!" Kaoru laughed "I guess I haven't! I'm just going to the next big town that we hit on this road. There is supposed to be some big restaurant called the Aoiya there."

"I think my destination might be in that town too. I'm supposed to be looking for a restaurant too. I think it's called the 'Akabeko' or something."

Kaoru grinned. He was so sweet that he probably would have taken her to her destination even if it was on the other side of the world. 'If only all men were like him.'

* * *

Hiko sat in his thrown anxiously tapping the arm rest. His adoptive son had run away, his adoptive son's _fiancé _had runaway, someone was hurting King Kamiya and he was having a bad hair day all in one damn day! 

He was also really mad that he had sent his personal hairstylist on vacation _this _week.

He glanced at one of his guards and shouted: "Bring Omasu back to me now! Tell her I have a hair emergency and I'll pay her extra!"

The poor guard was about ten inches shorter than the king and didn't add up to him in mass at all, so he just squeaked a "Yes, Your Majesty!" and let the room.

Hiko stood up and let out a large howl. Something evil was coming upon the castle and he knew it. Something bad was about to happen and there was nothing he could do to stop it!

Someone in this castle was behind King Kamiya's collapse and he had to figure out who it was before someone turned up dead.

* * *

It was the middle of the afternoon and Kaoru's leg was starting to feel a bit better so Kenshin let her get off of his back. She was a bit wobbly and was starting to limp but Kenshin swung her arm over his shoulders to help her. For the first time he was glad that he was short so he could be on equal ground and she wouldn't be uncomfortable. 

As they started their journey again, Kaoru started to giggle at a bluebird in a nearby tree as it began to sing to its mate.

Kenshin looked at her innocent face and smiled. But then he noticed that she was beginning to slow down and her steps seemed to become too painful. So he stopped.

It was the perfect place to stop on the path in all reality. They sat under a big tree that was covered in cherry blossoms and had many squirrels and birds on its branches.

Kenshin opened his sack and pulled out a piece of dry fruit and handed it to Kaoru.

She took it gratefully and began to nibble on it.

Kenshin took out a piece for himself and started to eat too.

They both sat in silence for a while but Kaoru finally spoke up, "So, what's happened in your journey so far?"

"Do you mean what's happened since I've runaway?"

Kaoru nodded.

"Hmmm. Well first I ran away…"

Kaoru rolled her eyes and elbowed him in the ribs gently.

Kenshin chuckled and continued, "I actually started off my journey with a horse. I had used him to runaway from the…" Kenshin hesitated, "…house. When I reached a stream to get some water, I heard a young girl scream and I ran over to save her. There were a bunch of thugs and I took them all down because they were about to hurt the girl."

Kaoru laughed and Kenshin looked at her strangely.

"I'm sorry, but I can't see you as the type who would go around saving people with your sword. I didn't even know that you used that sword! I thought it was just for show. No offense, but you don't look like your normal 'knight in shining armor'."

"Hey, I had to save her!" Kenshin defensively commented. His ego was bruised.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Go on with your story!"

"Anyway, after I saved her, I traveled with her a little to protect her. She worked at a restaurant twenty miles from the place that I had found her. The thugs didn't want any chance of witnesses. So we walked for a while but then we ran into her brother, who almost decked me before he realized that I had saved his sister. I let them take the horse and they road off."

"What happened next?"

"Oh! It's the most interesting part! I met this beautiful girl who was really scary. She came up and…"

Kaoru smacked his arm, giggled, and blushed.

"Now, you tell me your story." Kenshin spoke curiously.

"Actually, my story is a bit like yours."

"Really? How so?"

"If you're quiet, I'll tell you! I got away by horse too and needed to stop at a stream that was hidden from the path. When I came back I heard a woman's voice and a group of men. When I first saw her I thought she was one of those… those…" Kaoru blushed heavily.

"Those what?"

"You know, those unruly women who sell their bodies!"

"Oh," For the hundredth time that day, Kenshin's face turned a bright red. He should have known what she was talking about.

"Anyway it turned out that this girl was a ninja and she was really there to steal from the men. She was actually quite good at knocking quite a few of them out," Kaoru ate another piece of her dry fruit and then continued "But the last man almost killed her and I got a tree branch and knocked him out."

Kenshin looked at her incredulously.

"What? I study swordsmanship! What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing, it's just I've never heard of a girl who studies swordsmanship before."

Kaoru huffed, "Well you have now! Back to the story! So I knocked him out and I helped her up. She was a really nice person, but she kind of was a blabber mouth. She told me outright that she was a ninja and then she blabbed about some prophesy that she was on a mission to find and then..."

"What prophesy?" Kenshin interrupted.

"I don't know. It was something about two people who where going to change the fate of the Icico and Azuna and save it or something."

Kenshin's face turned pale and it dawned with recognition.

Kaoru got concerned, "What is it?"

Kenshin turned away and whispered "I think my birth mother wrote that prophesy."

**A/N: Cliffhanger! So, do you like it? I thought it was really fun to write! (Especially the part with Hiko, he's my favorite character to write!) **

**Anyway I'm going to start a new policy that I'll hopefully be able to hold out for the rest of the story. I'm going to start personally responding to all signed reviews (which I've been doing) but now I'm going to have responses to the anonymous reviews at the end of each chapter! So here it goes!**

**Anonymous but very interested: You amaze me so much! I can't believe you spend so much time bothering to review my little chapters! I'm really glad you liked that passage! (I was scared that it wouldn't work!) Thank you so much for your suggestions! (I'll put them into consideration!) P.S. Don't worry about spelling, I bet I have more problems than you do with it! lol**

**Summer star: I'm so glad that you think my little story is cute! I hope this chapter holds up to your expectations!**

**To the people who sent signed reviews: I sent you a personal response too! I just sent you a review reply using system!**

**One last thing, please review! I stayed up really late last night finishing this and I would really appreciate it!**

**Thanks for reading!**

**-rm/bo**


	10. Chapter 9

**Hello! Hello! Hello! I'm so sorry that I'm late! (Bows) Please forgive me! I had a problem with letting me upload my story!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or any of the characters. (sighs)**

**Thank you so much for all the reviews, I really appreciated them! **

**A quick note before the story continues:**

**This will not have as much K/K fluff as there has been in the past chapters because I have to put a lot more plot details into here so...**

**Onto the story!**

**Chapter 9:**

The spring air danced playfully around the couple and the birds continued their chirping. But the two were dead silent.

Kaoru stared at Kenshin with a blank expression on her dirt covered face.

Kenshin's gaze turned up to her and there was a deep mournful look that was placed in his soft violet eyes. Kaoru couldn't speak. 'What does he mean his mother wrote the prophesy? How could he possibly know?'

Kenshin finally spoke up and intensely looked into her piercing sapphire blue eyes. "My mother was a seer."

_Flashback:_

A six-year-old boy named 'Shinta' ran into the village house, beaming with excitement. He looked up at his young mother who was making the beds in the cottage's one room.

"Mommy, I just caught this big fish today!" He picked up a fourteen inch fish that he had been dragging in his small hands from the lake that was a half a mile away and he was extremely proud of himself.

The red haired woman squatted down and looked into the joyous face that was beaming with happiness. She gave him a quick smile and looked at his hands.

"That's good Shinta. But you're all dirty! Go clean up!" She scolded and she patted the boy on the head.

He nodded and ran off to the well outside while the woman stood back up and smoothed out her skirt.

"Sakura!" A man's voice called as he strode into the house after passing the small boy.

He had ugly brunette hair that fell at his shoulders and he wore a gaudy purple cloak over his regal brown pants and shirt.

The woman gave him a fierce look. "What do you want, Hoji?"

Hoji smirked and he approached the young woman as he reached for her chin and gently stroked it.

Sakura thrashed herself away and looked like she was about to slap him. "Leave us alone, Hoji! I want a good life for Shinta and myself!"

"I'll leave you alone if you tell me how far you've gotten on writing it! You know what will happen if you don't do as I tell you, don't you?"

Unbeknownst to them, the small child was standing by the side of the house listening in on the conversation. He had a bad feeling about this man and he didn't want to leave his mother along with him! He crept closer to the open door.

"Of course I know what will happen!" She snapped as she went back to setting the beds.

"Then why aren't you working on it, my dear?"

"Don't you think I would if I had the ability to? Shinta means the world to me! Do you think I would sacrifice his life because I didn't want to jot down a few visions? He was the only thing I had left after Ryu died!" Her face turned back to him as angry tears started to sprinkle down her soft face.

"Well, you aren't trying hard enough," Hoji replied as if he was dealing with a small child throwing a tantrum.

She clenched her fists and attempted to stay calm. She whispered, "I'm trying as hard as I can."

"I don't think I believe you and until we get what we want…" He walked outside and Sakura followed him. "I'm taking him!"

"No!" Sakura screamed as Hoji picked up Shinta by the collar or his scruffy shirt.

"Mommy," Shinta whimpered, "What's he doing to me?" His little shoulders began to shake and small tears started to fall from his innocent eyes.

"Don't you dare!" His mother yelled and tried to take Shinta out of his grasp.

But Hoji slapped her and she fell to the ground. He looked at the boy for a few seconds and then finally shoved him back to the ground. Sakura quickly grabbed for Shinta and placed her arms protectively around his small waist.

Hoji slithered closer. Sakura flinched and Hoji sinisterly whispered, "Consider this your warning. I'll be back tomorrow." Hoji stood back up and slowly strutted away from them.

After Hoji was out of sight, Shinta looked up at his mother and innocently asked, "What does he want you to write?"

Sakura, who was already sobbing, completely broke down and hugged him ever tighter.

That night Sakura was stirring some cold soup and Shinta was watching her as he swung his legs from the edge of his bed. She was really edgy and he didn't say anything. He finally sighed and hopped off the bed to sit down at the table.

She poured some soup and he graciously took it. When she sat down there was a long moment of silence and she didn't speak for an extended amount of time, but she finally spoke up. "Shinta, I have to tell you something."

His head went up and he gazed into his mother's green eyes. "What, Mommy?"

"It's about the prophesy," She took a sip of her soup for a second and paused.

Shinta had always heard his mother talking about this prophesy, but he didn't know what it was about. He was only six-years-old and things like this confused him.

She continued, "This prophesy will determine the fate of the country and if bad men like Mr. Hoji and his men get a hold of it, the whole nation will go into chaos."

Shinta gave her a confused look and she sighed. "Shinta, the prophesy is about two people who will save the land of Azuna and Icico. If bad men find out who these people are, they will go out and attempt to kill them so that they can rule the countries."

"But what does that have to do with you?" Shinta asked innocently.

She sighed, "I'm a seer."

"What's that?"

She looked into his naive eyes and sighed.

"A seer is someone who can see into the future and the person who will write out the prophesy."

"But you seem to know so much about the prophesy, why can't you tell Mr. Hoji that?"

She looked into his eyes with great sorrow, "I've told him as much as I know but I don't know who the two saviors are and I can't tell the visions when to come."

"Oh," Shinta whispered. He was still confused, but he knew that this was a serious adult matter and he shouldn't get involved.

When Shinta was asleep and snuggled into his bed later that night he heard a crash in the room and he sat up to see what it was. He rubbed his eyes and saw his mother clutching her head and a glass shattered on the ground.

"Mommy?" He whispered. He was scared because she was whispering something in a venomous tone.

She turned around but she didn't seem to be looking at him. There was a vacant look in her eyes. She suddenly started to whisper:

_Lives will be changed and altered. People close will die. _

_Both queens lie on their deathbeds because of a murder feigning as an illness._

_Evil will start to rise in the abyss of the lands, in hiding_

_Two young people connected by the threads of time, will see an opportunity and runaway; only to come face to face with it again when their counties are on the verge of chaos._

_They will both have noble upbringings but neither will know the truth_

_As they walk together they will realize of the danger and seek friends_

_They will fight beasts of fire and ice with skill great skill_

_But the true gift lies within._

_The girl and the boy will return to their countries and fight._

_But the outcome of the battle is up to them._

_The boy's name will appear to be the heart of the sword, but his true name will be Shinta _

_The girl's name…_

Shinta's eyes were wide and he wanted to cry. His mother was shouting in a tone that he wasn't used to. But she cut off. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she fell to the floor.

"Mommy!" He screamed and he ran up to her. He put her head in his small lap and tried to revive her.

Her eyes slowly opened, but they weren't the gentle ones he was used to. They were filled with fear.

"Shinta," She croaked. "You have to go away."

"But I don't want to go away, Mommy!"

"Shinta, it's all in the prophesy! You have to go!"

"Why do you have to tell people, Mommy? Why can't I stay here? I promise I won't tell!" he whimpered.

"Because it is a command from the gods and if I don't, you and I will both die a horrible death! You have to get out of here, Shinta! You're one of the ones to save to the country and Hoji will kill you as soon as he finds out!" She screamed.

Her eyes were blood shoot, her hair was in extreme disarray, and her face was paler than normal.

She looked like a mad woman.

Shinta slowly nodded and his mother gripped his right hand and yanked him out of the house in the pitch black night.

She snuck around houses, making sure that people wouldn't see or hear her.

Whenever the boy would make a sound, she turned around and glared sharply at him. So he stayed silent.

When they had been walking for hours they reached a big city and Shinta's feet were bleeding because he was bear-foot. Tears clung to his grimy face and his knees were scraped from tripping when his mother had walked too fast.

This wasn't like her! What was she doing?

They reached a dark busy street where homeless people lined the buildings. An unbearable stench came and more tears started to fall as he put his left hand over his nose. He couldn't tell what the odor was and he really didn't want to know.

His mother looked side to side and came to a halt. She crouched down and looked the small child in the eyes.

"Shinta, you are to stay here! Don't try to find your way back home! I'm leaving you here!"

"But Mommy…"

"No 'buts'! You are in grave danger and I couldn't bear it if you got hurt!"

"Mommy!"

He was weeping so hard that the front of his dirty shirt was drenched in sweat and tears.

"I can't do anything, Shinta! If they see me with you, you'll be in danger! Be safe, Shinta!" She kissed him on the cheek. She stood up, looked around, and started to run away.

He tried to follow her, but he tripped on a drunken man who was sleeping on the ground in front of him. When he finally got up, he looked around and his mother was gone.

He searched frantically, but he couldn't find her. She was the only thing that he had ever had and she abandoned him! His father had died when he was two and there was no one there for him! He started to shake and he sunk back to the ground.

He was all alone.

_(End of flashback)_

Kaoru's eyes were streaming with tears that wouldn't stop. How could someone do that to a child? How could someone abandon a child and put it in the streets?

Kenshin was glaring into the distance after he finished the story and was filled with an obviously loathing for this woman and the prophesy.

Kaoru murmured through tears, "Th-then what happened?"

"My adoptive parents found me and adopted me," He said coolly. "I really don't want to talk about it."

He avoided her eyes and she sobbed even more. She put her arms around his shoulders and clung to him.

His mother couldn't protect him from this cruel world.

But maybe _she_ could bring back his innocence.

**I hope you liked it! I know Kenshin's past is a bit confusing but it will all clear up later! **

**I know that Kenshin wouldn't be at all safe on the streets by himself, but you will find out why his mother did that in the next chapter!**

**Now... onto the anonymous review section:**

**Summer star: Thank you so much! You're such a loyal reviewer! I hope this will help you get over the cliff-hanger! I'm also glad that you like Hiko! I'll be writing a lot more of him in the future... Maybe even a bit in the next chapter...**

**Anonymous but very interested: - I have to say that I always look forward to your reviews because you tell me what you liked and what you didn't like. It really helps me! Thank you so much! I know that it was a bit sudden and I was going to drag it out a little longer, but if I did the chapters in between it would just be filler fluff and I don't think it would have been to the best of my ability... But I do agree with you! If you have a busy schedule I understand, but if you do have some free time, I would really appreciate some of your comments and suggestions!**

**Okay, that's it for the anonymous section! I do have a quick request to all of the readers now. I would really appreciate it if I reached fifty reviews for the next chapter! I don't need it, but it would be nice!**

**Thank you for reading this far and please review!**

**-rm/bo**


	11. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kenshin or any of the characters in Rurouni Kenshin. **

**I'm sooooooooooo sorry! I've been meaning to update but school was really evil! And when summer came I simply forgot to update because I was lazy. Also, I've been having slight writer's block! I hope that all of you will forgive me and read this chapter! **

**Thank you so much Anonymous but Interested! You really helped me from running into a plot hole. **

**Thank you everyone for all the wonderful reviews, I didn't expect that many! **

**On to the next chapter! **

Kaoru and Kenshin had been walking a few miles and neither of them had uttered a word. It was a cold cloudy morning and it made them a bit depressed. The night before Kenshin hadn't slept at all and had sat at the base of a tree while Kaoru took the blanket. She would have insisted again that he sleep with her but she felt that she didn't have the right at the moment. He probably hadn't talked to anyone about his mother in a while and Kaoru knew that she would probably make things worse. But she was determined to help him as soon as he was willing to talk to her!

With her new sense of determination she decided to put her thoughts on the prophesy.

'If Kenshin really is the 'Shinta' in the prophesy, who could the girl be? And what was that part about nobility?'

She knew the quickest way to find out about what the prophesy said would be to ask Kenshin, but she decided against it. Instead she went into intense concentration for a while and all of a sudden she remembered what it said and she got an idea! There was something in the prophesy that stated about nobility and that the two people in the prophesy supposedly didn't know about it! Maybe Kenshin was a royal and had no idea!

She had to admit though that in the beginning she was hoping to be the girl in the prophesy. But she already knew that she was part of the royal family so it kind of blew that one out of the water. Not that she could tell Kenshin of course.

But it did mean that there was some girl out there who could help Kenshin save the countries! Maybe she could help him find her! It would be an amazing adventure!

She made a little squeak of pleasure and Kenshin glanced sideways at her with a raised eyebrow. She blushed a little and looked away from him. She didn't want him to think that she didn't care about his feelings and only cared about the adventure and fulfilling the prophesy.

Hiko was at the dinner table and was impatiently tapping his utensils on his plate as he waited for his food. His hair was better now because Omasu had come that morning. But she had also discovered a gray hair and he wasn't the least bit happy about that.

But on a more serious matter was King Kamiya's condition. When the maid had come in to deliver the king's food, he could barely lift his head off the pillow. His condition was slowly deteriorating and Hiko didn't know how to help.

Hiko HATED not being in control! It reminded him too much of the fact that his wife had left him because of the illness. It also brought painful thoughts about how much he wanted her back.

_Flashback: _

"Seijuro Hiko! What is wrong with you?" A petite woman in dark purple robes yelled as she looked up at the man who towered a foot and a half above her.

He grunted and ignored her as he glared out the balcony.

She put her hands on her hips for a second and huffed. Hoshiko was not in the mood for his attitude. Sure they were in the middle of a war, but it was no reason to push her aside. Many nights she ended up crying herself to sleep, alone in a cold bed with out comfort when Hiko had been meeting the officials late into the night. She loved her husband and she didn't want to be selfish, but there was an extent of how much patience she could have. The matter she wanted to discuss with him was dire and she really wanted him to pay attention.

He grunted again but he grudgingly turned towards her. He could tell that if he didn't turn around, she would get upset and he hated to see pain in her eyes.

"What are we going to do about Sakura?"

"Who?"

"Don't pretend you don't know her, Seijuro! My sister deserves as much or more respect then me! She's a royal too! She just happened to fall in love with a man who didn't have noble blood!"

Hiko snorted, "But he was a commoner! That Ryu man dragged her down with him! The family line is more important then love!"

Tears started to form in Hoshiko's eyes. "Does that mean you don't love me? Does that mean you only married me because of my decent?"

Hiko immediately felt guilty and tried to pull her into his arms. "Darling, I didn't mean that."

She pushed away. "So if you're saying that if I didn't have royal blood, you wouldn't marry me?"

"You're being impossible! That's an entirely different situation! Your sister ran away even though she knew how dangerous it was! It's already risky with her being a princess; but running away when you're a seer too is just foolhardy!"

"It doesn't matter! She didn't care about herself! She loved him!" The moonlight sparkled off her raven hair as she stood on her tiptoes in an effect to look more intimidating.

If anyone besides his wife had dared to backtalk him like this, they would have been sent into the dungeons for a month. But something about her that made him go weak in the knees. Five months after they were first married, the nurse found out that she would be unable to produce children because of an illness she had contacted a year ago that was hard for her small body to fight. He could have easily divorced her and married another woman, but he loved her too much.

When she had gotten the news she collapsed and started to sob uncontrollably. He took her up into his arms and promised to always be by her side. He also promised her that he didn't care if he had an heir to the throne, as long as he had her. He had held her shivering tiny body and hugged her wishing only to make her happy.

He loved her so much.

She might have had a small appearance, but she certainly had a fire in her that could match the strongest warriors in the country. The passion in her eyes was always bright and brilliant and he usually found it quite funny when she got hyped up. Along with her fierceness, she had a very moral way of thinking. Whenever there was someone who had stolen from the castle garden he would ask her what the punishment would be and she always seemed to give a fair ruling. She was his rock and he wanted to stay in her arms forever.

_End of flashback _

He felt sharp pains whenever he thought back about his wife. She was gone and the fact that Kenshin was gone, the only thing of his wife's that was left, made him more uneasy.

Kaoru was happy that her leg was finally starting to feel better. At the beginning of the day she had to beg Kenshin to let her walk by herself, but now Kenshin was leaving her alone about it and the screaming pain had lessened to a dull ache. Now it seemed that she would finally be able to enjoy this journey!

She sighed happily and glanced at Kenshin who looked like he was about to collapse. She didn't blame him because of his lack of sleep. He probably thought that she would think he was weak, but she was proud of him! She could only hope that the other person involved in the prophesy would see this. Kaoru had sworn to protect him after all.

Kaoru suddenly realized something, 'What if this girl falls in love with him and he falls in love with her?' Kaoru shook her head 'No that wouldn't happen! Besides, why should I care? I mean…' She was cut off by a soft voice beside her.

"We're almost there."

She turned her head and looked at Kenshin, whose hair was shadowing his eyes.

"How do you know?"

He stopped walking and pointed at a sign that was slightly camouflaged by some bushes. It said there was two more miles to the nearest town.

"Oh," She murmured quietly. She knew that this was going to be the last time she and Kenshin would probably have any time alone together for a while.

'Stop thinking like that! Who cares if you aren't going to be alone with him again! It doesn't matter! And you shouldn't enjoy being alone with a man! That's completely improper! You've only known him for a few days anyway. Besides you'll see him in the town, he told you that he was going to another restaurant in the town to look for a possible job!'

She shook her head and looked back to him, "Well, I guess our journey is almost over!" She said in a chipper tone, somewhat imitating Misao.

He looked up at her for the first time in a couple hours and gave her a smile, "The walking part of the journeys over, but starting a new life is a journey in itself."

She felt a slight fluttering feeling in her stomach by the way Kenshin smiled and the soft hypnotizing quality of his voice. She blushed slightly and nodded, completely jealous of the girl in the prophesy. She felt uncomfortable by the sudden silence and started to talk.

"You know, I bet there's a girl whose out there who is supposed to fulfill the prophesy but she doesn't even know it. She's probably a member of the royal family and she's just living an ordinary life. I personally think she's lucky. I don't know about you, but I think that it would be hard being part of royalty. Whatever the royal family does could drastically change the country, even if it's just a little decision. So she's lucky to grow up in an ordinary life." Kaoru couldn't help having a look of longing in her eyes and they continued walking.

"I agree," Kenshin replied as he wiped some sweat from his brow and looked straight ahead at the road which was taking them closer and closer to a more urban area. "But I'm not sure if I'm the person in the prophesy."

Kaoru shook her head vigorously. "But you could be! You could have royal connections and not know it! That could have been another reason why your mother was hiding!" Kaoru put her hand over her mouth and realized that she had said too much.

Kenshin held his tongue. He couldn't tell her that he already knew he was royalty, so he told her it was okay and he let her ramble on.

When they came upon the town Kaoru stopped talking about her theory and stared at the village with her a stunned expression on her face. She had never been to a town before! She was either at the castle or, if she was traveling, the group would make sure they avoided all the towns. She saw people at booths yelling at passers about their products. There were small children in raggedy clothes who were playing tag and running behind their mother's legs when they were about to get caught.

Kaoru smiled. The people here looked so genuine! They didn't look snobbish in the slightest. She turned to Kenshin and she saw a pained expression on his face when he looked at the children. Her heart sank as she realized this probably made him want his mother back. Before she could say anything comforting he spoke up.

"Look, there's the Aoiya." He pointed at a rather large structure that had a sign with the word 'Aoiya' painted on it.

Kenshin and Kaoru walked up to the building slowly and they entered through a flap. A tall woman with long silky brunette hair and a simple brown dress approached the two and she quickly recited, "Welcome to the Aoiya! We have the best food on the border! We..." Kaoru cut her off.

"Actually I was looking for someone here."

The woman's expression changed and she gave the two an evil glare. "Why would you want to see anyone here?"

Before Kaoru could answer Misao came bounding down the stairs and looked from the woman to Kaoru. "Ochika, this was the woman I was talking about! The one I found in the woods!"

Ochika's expression gentled and she gave Kaoru an apologetic smile. "I'm so sorry, Miss. But you can never be too careful."

"Oh it's okay!" Kaoru replied grinning. She glanced at Kenshin to see what he was doing and she saw that he was looking at Misao, who had stepped closer to him and was looking him up and down.

"Hello, Miss Misao. I'm a friend of Miss Kaoru's."

Misao stepped back; stunned. "How did you know my name?" She reached into her pocket of her restaurant uniform and pulled out a knife.

Kenshin stepped back a bit shocked, "Miss Kaoru told me!"

Misao looked at Kaoru with a dangerous look in her eyes. "Did you tell him about me?"

Kaoru was a bit scared. "Y-yes. I told him. Is that okay?"

Misao broke into a huge grin and cheerfully said. "Oh that's okay! As long as you didn't tell him I was a ninja, I'm fine!"

"Misao!" Ochika snapped and Misao put a hand over her mouth.

"It's okay, Miss Misao. I won't tell." Kenshin smiled gently at the short girl. "But I would really like it if you showed me were the Akabeko is"

Misao smiled back and pointed to the left. "It's the small restaurant beside us! It's not as good as the Aoiya, but it does have some pretty good dishes there!"

"Thank you," Kenshin bowed and left the room.

Misao watched him leave and then she looked up at Kaoru. "Who was he?"

"His name is Kenshin. I met him on the road shortly after I met you. I hurt my ankle and he helped me get here. He's a runaway too."

Misao stared at her critically for a second and then she finally said, "You like him. Don't you?"

Kaoru was taken aback. "Where did you get that idea?"

"The way you talked about him is completely different then when you talk about anything else. I can tell these things, I'm a ninja after all!"

Ochika rolled her eyes and went off muttering something about 'stupid girls who don't know how to keep their mouths shut'.

Kaoru was about to retaliate to Misao's comment when Kenshin and a small girl came into the room again. The girl seemed to be a tour guide Kenshin's tour guide.

"This is the Aoiya," she mumbled in a small voice, "It's another restaurant. That's Miss Misao. Miss Ochika is the one who's serving the customer. And Sir Shuro is the one who…"

Before she could continue a huge smirk spread across Misao's face. "Oh little Yahiko! Guess who's here!" She yelled up the stairs.

"Shut up!" A voice came from the top of the stairs. The owner of the voice came stomping down the stairs and when he reached the bottom he looked at Misao and shouted, "Why the hell do you have to call me little all the time?"

Kaoru looked at the boy and realized that there was something familiar about him. He was short and had spiky hair that she knew that she'd seen before!

"Your girlfriend is here! You don't want to be rude to her do you?" Misao said teasingly.

Yahiko looked around the room and turned red when he saw Tsubame who was already as crimson as Kenshin's hair. He was about to reply when his eyes suddenly fell on Kaoru.

They stared at each other. Then a second later Kaoru realized were she had seen him before! He was the boy who had attacked her traveling group on the way to Azuna!

Yahiko must have realized it too because they both shouted one word:

"You!"

**I hope you liked the chapter! It took me a while to finish! I was going to go further but I thought that this would be a better place to leave off. If you're a bit confused about Kaoru and Yahiko's first meeting go back and reread the first chapter, it's in there! **

**Also, since I can't put review replies in the story anymore I'm going to put it on my livejournal. Go to my biopage and it's under my homepage. I'll try to update it the second I read the review! **

**Please review! It really helps! My goal is 70 next time!**


	12. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or any of the characters. **

**Author's note: Okay, that took a long time to update. But I finally got around to typing the story out! Hopefully I'll find a way to update more frequently soon. Thank you everyone for the reviews! I loved each and every one all of them! Anonymous but very interested, hopefully this clears some stuff up (thanks for the suggestions by the way).**

Chapter 11:

Kaoru was stunned, scared, and a little mad at the boy who stood in front of her.

'Why in the world is he here? What will happen when he tells the people who I am? Will I be sent back? How dare he ruin my adventure! What will Kenshin think? Wait! Why do I care what Kenshin thinks? Why am I wondering about Kenshin when I should be worrying about keeping the little punk quiet? Damn that kid!'

As if he was reading her mind Yahiko started to smirk. "Well if it isn't…"

Before she knew what she was doing, Kaoru jumped up and slammed her hand over the boy's mouth. "Could we talk in private, child?" She said through gritted teeth.

Kaoru heard a muffled, "I am not a child!"

She then asked a very shocked Misao where she might have a word with the boy and Misao pointed to her left which was a very dusty looking room. Kaoru yanked the boy along and shoved him into the room with her while the rest of the group just stared in wonder.

They all looked at each other in silence until Ochika broke it. "Well Tsubame, lets have some tea before you give the rest of your tour?" She signaled for Kenshin to follow her into the kitchen as they left a very frightened looking Tsubame staring at the door in which Yahiko had just been forced through.

As Ochika was preparing the tea she whispered to Kenshin, "Why did Tsubame have to show you the Akabeko? You already knew where it was."

Kenshin grinned, "I didn't want to hurt Miss Tsubame's feelings. She's finally coming out of her shell a bit and I just wanted to make sure that it continued that way."

Ochika grinned and nodded.

888

Meanwhile Misao wasn't as polite as everyone else and was listening intently on what was happening inside the door:

"…I guess I'll just have to tell everyone who you are." Yahiko snickered.

Kaoru gasped, "You wouldn't dare!"

"What's stopping me? Oh! I should tell the castle guards that it was my pleasure to return their beloved princess to the kingdom. Then maybe I could get a bucket load of money."

Misao's eyes went wide. Kaoru was the princess that who had run away!

Kaoru was starting to sound frantic, "Please don't tell anyone! I'll do anything!"

There was silence as Yahiko considered. Then in sly voice he asked, "Will you do all my chores?'

"Yes."

"Will you be my personal slave for as long as I want?"

There was a bit of hesitation but Kaoru soon answered, "Yes."

"Will you bow down and call me master every time I walk into the room?"

Misao couldn't stand it anymore and barged into the room.

"Yahiko, you little brat! How dare you do this to a princess?"

Kaoru's face had gone pail and Yahiko looked like someone had poured cold water on him unexpectedly.

Kaoru didn't know whether to scream or start weeping. There was no way she would get away with this now.

Misao saw Kaoru's expression and she walked over and gave Kaoru a little squeeze on the shoulder. "I heard the whole thing, but don't worry, I won't tell."

Even though previous evidence didn't point to this, Kaoru had the feeling that this wasn't information that Misao would blab and she smiled at Misao and gave her a big hug.

888

Hiko sat on a chair in King Kamiya's room and saw the old man writhe in pain every so often in his sleep. Kamiya's once gentle face was now contorted from the battle inside of him. He was fighting valiantly but Hiko knew that in the end, he wouldn't win unless something major happened.

Hiko glared at the opposite wall and stalked out of the room. He had just walked around the corner when he heard footsteps going into Kamiya's room. It was odd because no one besides the nurses and him where aloud in his room and these footsteps were too heavy to belong to one of the nurses. He carefully looked around the bend to see Kamiya's financial adviser, Shishio, walk into the room.

'What the hell is he doing? Kamiya's in now place right now to make any kind of decision right now!' Hiko knew that he should step out and get the man out of there, but his curios side got the better of him and he listened intently to what was happening in the room.

He heard Kamiya moan in pain when Shishio picked him up off the bed. He was about to charge into the room when he saw Soujiro running down the hallway. The boy looked pale and he wasn't smiling for once. Hiko knew something was wrong, but at least his servant could stop Shishio without Hiko himself having to do anything.

Soujiro glanced into the room and quickly walked in.

"Mr. Shishio, please don't do this! The country is in enough panic. A war at this time would tear the country completely apart!"

'What the hell is Soujiro talking about?' Hiko pondered as he flattened himself against the wall and continued to listen.

"But don't you realize that this is the perfect time Soujiro? We'll easily be able to take over the kingdoms at this point. Isn't this what you wanted when you were younger?"

"It was then, but I feel differently now! There are people here who care about me! I'm not bitter enough to want to take over the country anymore! The country may have its problems, but His Majesty is doing the best he can!"

Hiko heard Shishio snort in amusement. "These 'friends' of yours haven't even noticed that you're gone right now. They're all too busy worrying about the prince and princess. Not to mention the girl you're in love with, Sayo, is pining after the Icico knight and could care less about you."

Soujiro did not reply but Hiko had a feeling that he was glaring at Shishio. "Let's go and take over the world now, my boy! Now that we've taken the King of Icico hostage, we have enough time to gather our troops and have them overtake the kingdom before the kingdom has any time to gather troops. With everyone searching for the prince and princess there will be no way that they can overtake us. Soujiro, get the troops ready, we'll attack in two days."

Hiko was about to jump out and confront the men but when he stepped out he noticed that Shishio was holding Kamiya and had a sword pressed up against his neck. Hiko decided not to do anything rash and went back to his hiding place as both men turned and walked in the opposite direction of them. Once they were gone Hiko started to run as fast as he could. He had to get ready. Both countries were about to be heading towards the war of the century.

888

After the Aoiya closed everyone was exhausted. Even though Kenshin and Kaoru had just arrived and Tsubame didn't work there, they all ended up helping out because later on that afternoon the traffic level at the restaurant went way up.

They all gathered around the biggest table and they all munched on the leftovers after the last customer had left.

Kaoru was happy because her secret was safe for the time being. Of course she didn't expect Misao to keep it for TOO long but it seemed that Misao was finally starting to learn how to keep her mouth shut and it gained her more time.

When everyone was about done they all heard loud angry voices coming towards the restaurant.

"Listen, _Rooster-head,_ I am NOT going to marry you and that's final! I'm not going to want to marry someone as idiotic as you!'

Kaoru saw Tsubame sigh and put her face in her hands. Two people came storming into the room. One of them was a woman with long ebony hair and dark red lipstick that contrasted with her ivory skin marvelously. The other person was a tall man with hair similar to Yahiko's and he had a fishbone in his mouth.

"Fox, if you don't get married to me, who are you going to marry? You're already almost an old maid!"

The woman's face turned red in anger and she slapped him. "Just because I'm selective in who I want to marry, it doesn't mean that I'm going to be an old maid!"

Kaoru looked around the table to see everyone's reactions to the words that were being spoken, but it seemed as if no one but her and Kenshin seemed to mind except for Tsubame who looked extremely embarrassed.

'So this must be a regular occurrence,' Kaoru mused

The woman continued to rant, "Anyway, it seems that no one would marry you so that's probably why you insist on asking me to marry you all the time!"

"There are tons of women out there who would love to marry me!" He glanced at the table and saw Kaoru and smirked. "Hey, Missy! Would you have a problem marrying me?"

Kaoru flushed but before she could answer the woman snorted. "I highly doubt that even this child would agree to marrying you!'

Kaoru was deeply offended! She was not a child in the slightest! In fact if she was at home right now, she would probably be married and she would be queen and this woman would be sent to jail for saying such things.

"Well at least she has a chance of getting married! Seeing her youthful face every morning would be wonderful compared to seeing a woman whose 22 going on 50 all the time!" Sanosuke sneered.

The woman was about to reply when Tsubame spoke up. "Please Sanosuke! Miss Megumi! Don't fight! Sir Kenshin and Miss Kaoru have just come in and I'm sure that they don't want this kind of a welcome!"

Kaoru was shocked. This girl had spoken less than three words to her and yet she had to guts to stop the argument that no one else did!

Another surprise was that Megumi stopped glaring at Sanosuke and she smiled at the little girl. "Sure thing, Tsubame. I know your life is difficult already having to deal with the _rooster head_ all day, so I'll stop."

Sanosuke snorted but didn't say anything. He looked around the table and his eye's landed on Kenshin. "Hey! It's nice to see you again! So you're working at our restaurant right? Tsubame hasn't stopped talking about you!"

Kaoru looked over at Yahiko who looked like he wanted to hit Kenshin but he was holding it back as well as he could. 'He really does like her!' Kaoru thought and she smirked slightly but she decided to listen back into the conversation.

"I really want to work there, that is if the person who runs the restaurant will let me," Kenshin smiled.

"Don't worry; I'm sorry that Sae won't have a problem with letting you work there. But I don't actually work there so I wouldn't know," Sanosuke took the fishbone out of his mouth and tossed it into the street.

Kaoru grimaced as Megumi started to chew out Sanosuke again, "That's because you're just a freeloader! You let your little sister do all the work for the family!"

"Hey! I used to be a fighter-for-hire but…"

He was cut off when an old man walked into the room and said, "It sounds like Mr. Sagara and Miss Takani are back," they both stopped their bickering and sat back down looking slightly agitated. The man looked around the table and his eyes stopped on Kenshin and Kaoru. "You must be Sir Kenshin and Miss Kaoru. It's nice to meet you two."

"How did you…?" They both asked at the same time.

"I have my ways," his eyes twinkled. "But I think it's time for everyone to head off to bed. It's passed 11:00. Everyone can stay here overnight so that way Miss Sae will not be bothered."

Megumi stood up and shook her head, "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that I will have to go to the clinic soon. One of the healers has been sick for the past few days so I have to work during her time. It's busier than you think at this time of night. Most people get into their big 'fight-to-the-death' battles' and then they end up coming to the clinic to clean up their stabs and cuts. Good-night everyone!"

Sanosuke followed her, "I'll walk her there."

Megumi glared at him, but didn't protest.

"Well I guess that means that we'll only have three guests tonight. Misao show Miss Kaoru and Tsubame to our spare room. Shuro, you will share your room with Sir Kenshin. Good night…"

Kaoru cut him off, "Excuse me but, who are you?"

The old man gazed at her for a little while then replied "It's Okina." He then headed up the stairs and left the rest of them to get ready.

888

Kaoru stared up at the ceiling in her room a few hours later. Even though she was exhausted, she couldn't fall asleep. So many new things had happened to her. She had finally stopped traveling, she had made new friends, and two people had found out who she really was (although she had a feeling Okina knew something that the others didn't). She turned her head to the side and looked over at Tsubame and saw that she was trembling.

Kaoru got up and walked slowly over to her. She saw that Tsubame was awake and she was crying. "Tsubame, are you okay?'

Tsubame sat up slowly and shook her head.

"What's wrong?"

"I-i-it's my mother's necklace. I al-always need it when I go to sl-sleep." She shakily managed the words out.

Kaoru nodded. Misao had told her while they were working that Tsubame's mother had passed away when she was a baby. She knew what Tsubame was going through and she hugged the small girl until she had ceased her crying for a bit.

"Tsubame, where is the necklace?"

"In the Akabeko, in my room."

"I'll go and get it for you. I can sneak in without disturbing anybody easily."

"On no! Don't do that!" Tsubame pleaded.

Kaoru had a feeling that it was making Tsubame feel like a nuisance so Kaoru simply said, "Oh it's no problem! In fact I'm not really tired and I wanted to stretch my legs!" She grinned at Tsubame and slowly crept out of the room.

She was walking down the stairs when she stepped on a loose floorboard and it creaked. She winced and checked behind her, only to see that a certain short ninja girl was standing behind her in her bedclothes and was looking very sleepy.

Kaoru told her the story and Misao nodded but she looked a lot more awake now. "I'll go with you!" She whispered excitedly.

Kaoru was too tired to argue and they both crept out of the restaurant.

Luckily there wasn't a door on the Akabeko, but just a flap so they both stealthily walked in when they got there.

"Where's Tsubame's room?" Kaoru whispered as quietly as she could.

"Up the stairs, it's the first door on the right. I'll stand guard." Misao replied.

Trying hard not to make any noise Kaoru tip-toed up the stairs and turned the corner. It was lucky that her father had taught her to be light on her feet because other-wise there would have been no way that she would have been able to succeed with this.

She quietly opened the door and stepped in. Once she was inside she remembered her error. She had no source of light with her. She opened the window was lucky that the moon was bright because it let her see everything in the room.

It was small with only a bed and a small table with the necklace on it. Kaoru's heart lunged in her chest. It wasn't fair that she was able to grow up with so much and yet this child had to live with so little. Not to mention she had to work at such a small age.

Kaoru stuffed the necklace in her pocket. She heard the floorboards behind her creak and she swiftly turned around. She recognized the person at the door and her face went pale.

**A/N: Yeah, horrible place to stop, but I promise that I'll try to get the next chapter out as soon as possible! I'd like to give a shout-out to my dear friend The Ultimate Baka Neko who completed her first fanfiction story! If any of you enjoy Fruits Basket and the Kyo/Tohru pairing this fic is the one to read! It's called '****Hanging on to Hope'.**

**Anyway, please review! The more reviews I get the sooner I update! Thanks a lot everyone for reading my little story! Hopefully I'll see you all soon! Oh and if you're an anonymous review please go to my livejournal review response page. As soon as I get your review I'll post a reply on there!** **It's at http/ rm- bo. livejournal. com/ (without the spaces) Thank you!**


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